The Tip of the Blade
by Revolutionary Venom
Summary: Ever wonder where the famous thief came from?
1. Prologue: Like a Thief

HAI

Alright people, here we go! THIS is the origin story of Duke!...or what I hope to be a good one anyway ^^;

P.S. Note that I never mention his name in this prologue. Just for future reference.

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

The young drake looked down upon what he thought to be the one of the greatest things in all of creation.

His son.

Though he and his wife had only been nineteen when they got married, they still had this beloved duckling nine months later. He knew his wife would be ecstatic when she heard that their egg had hatched, but he'd call her in a little while. She had been exhausted, spending every night in the Incubation Unit for the past week, waiting for their egg to hatch. Not thinking that anything would happen (since it usually took two weeks for a duckling to hatch), he had asked that she go home and get some rest.

He knew she was going to be royally pissed at him for insisting that she go home when she heard that their egg had hatched without her.

But that didn't stop him from staying here and watching over the small gray newborn. It was actually kind of funny in his opinion. The ducks of Puckworld came in many different colors, but gray was a rare one. The more common ones were white, tan, or a yellowish color, so the doctors and nurses were somewhat amazed to see a newborn with gray plumage.

The father chuckled a bit, picking up the small duckling, making sure that the blanket that he had been covered with was wrapped around the child to keep him warm. He went to a nearby rocking chair that the Unit had and sat, rocking slightly with the sleeping duckling.

_I didn't think it would happen when I had a kid, but it did,_ the young father thought, watching his son sleep. _Like a thief, he's stolen my heart._

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

He felt something moving on his chest. Groaning, the twenty-one year old drake opened his eyes and looked to see what was there.

Their year old son was sleeping on his chest.

The duckling's father groaned again and rubbed his eyes with one hand. "How the hell did you get out of your damned crib and up here?" he asked.

His wife moaned. "Don't cuss in front of the baby," she said, still half asleep herself. She started to get up when her husband interfered. "Don't worry, I'll take him back," he said.

Being careful not to wake his young son up (because it was rare when he slept the entire night), the twenty-one year old rose from where he was lying on the bed, taking their son with him back to his own room down the hall.

As he lay his son back down into his own crib, he couldn't help but wonder just _how _the young duckling had crawled out. It happened a few times a week; he was actually beginning to wonder if this kid was literally flying.

_He's got stealth, even though he's only a year old,_ the drake admitted to himself as he watched his son wriggle a little bit after being placed in his crib before settling back down. _Maybe he'll be a ninja someday,_ he mused, wanting to laugh.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

_*Ring ring!*_

The twenty-four year old drake mentally groaned when he heard the phone ring. He had just gotten his son down for a nap, and now the damned phone had to ring!

_*Ring ring!*_

"Alright, alright, I'm comin'," he muttered, walking in the direction of the kitchen phone. His wife was at work and he had the day off, so he was in charge of their son's caretaking. So far, everything had been fine, minus trying to get the fussy four year old to take a nap.

He picked up the receiver up and answered with a gruff, "Hello?"

He listened for a few moments, then sagged against the closest wall. "Shit," he merely said in response to what he was being told. "Can't someone else take care of the recruits today? Duchess was supposed to be on the list for today, if I'm not mistaken. Let _her _go baby-sit them."

A few moments of silence. Then he said, "I _can't_. At least not now. My wife is working and won't be back until six or so-" Another pause. "-yes, I know that's two hours away, but I can't help it. I've…got stuff to do."

With that he hung up.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

He couldn't protect them any longer. This he was sure of.

The twenty-six year old drake didn't want to leave his wife and son behind, but there was no way that he could stay with them. Things were beginning to conflict with one another, making it harder to protect either of the two people he loved.

So he had to leave.

In his own way, he had already said goodbye to his wife; meaning that he had made the day as wonderful as he could with his family before taking his love to bed after their six year old went to sleep.

The young drake brushed away some stray hair from her face as he watched her sleep. He didn't know if she knew about him needing to leave on some level, but at this point in time, he could only guess and hope for the best.

He wandered down to his son's room, quietly opening the door and peering into the room.

The small gray duckling that had stolen his heart like a thief in the night was sleeping in the little bed that he and his wife had gotten for the younger one not too long ago. The father couldn't help but smile as he walked into the room quietly, watching the child sleep.

He kneeled next to his young son's bed and tried to wake the youngster. "Hey, you need to wake up," the father said softly, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder.

The young duckling moaned sleepily. "Izzit time for school?" he asked, his eyes half open after a moment.

"Sorry kid, not yet," his dad answered, smiling sadly. He pulled something out of his pocket as the child sat up, rubbing his eyes. The twenty-six year old then placed something over his son's head, letting it fall around his neck. "This is for you."

His son looked at the pendant that was now around his neck. The item that hung on the gold chain was (what looked like) an old coin with something engraved on it, but it was too dark to see what it was.

"Keep this with you all the time," the father instructed, his hands on his son's shoulders. "It'll protect you. Just know that we'll meet again one day."

The young duckling just looked at him, kind of dazed as his father let go and left the room…


	2. Chapter 1: The New Recruit

HAI AGAIN. Okay, 2nd chapter! Hope ya like it =3

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

The small, twelve year old gray duck clutched at the old coin around his neck and looked at the kitchen table, hoping he wasn't going to find something that he thought was especially scary.

But they were there.

Two or three times a week, the small duckling would find needles on the kitchen table. They belonged to his mother, and whatever was in them, usually scared the hell out of him whenever she took what was in them.

But it had been that way for about six years now, ever since his dad had left. He had learned long ago not to mess with the needles; when they had first appeared, the small child hadn't even touched the needles when his mother saw and freaked out about touching "her stash".

It was later that he found out what she meant by "stash". He learned only a year after the needles appeared what was in them. That and he saw what the female duck was like after using the stuff.

The lady was _scary_.

Seeing the stuff on the table meant another night of surviving by being a pickpocket or scamming food from the neighbors…if they had any, that was. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. Most of them were drug addicts too, just like his mother.

And it was something that was becoming more…of a custom as of late, since it seemed that the more his mother did drugs, the kid had to go out to steal more money. Though he had to admit to himself (if no one else) that he was pretty good at stealing, even if it was out of survival.

So the young drake set out to do what had become a somewhat routine thing.

Little did he know, as he was walking away from the front door of the apartment to go do his own mission, someone else was intently watching the twelve-year old…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

The kid sat on a bench in the park, eating a burger he had managed to buy with the small amount of money he had pick pocketed. It wasn't much, but it would fill his stomach for the evening, then he could use some more of the money he had to buy himself breakfast.

This gray drake had learned long ago how to stretch money. Especially when one's refrigerator didn't exactly have much in it from week to week.

Suddenly, someone sat next to him. The younger one didn't really give the other much notice, continuing to eat his sandwich.

"It's not all that fun, is it? Having to survive by yourself?"

The younger drake stopped in mid-bite.

"I've been watching for awhile kid," the adult said. "Your mother's been on drugs for some time, hasn't she?"

Stunned, the younger one just looked up at the other and nodded. "How'd ya know that?" he asked.

Mystery Man (or what the kid was going to call him for now,) just smiled. "I've had something along the lines of what's going on happen to me too," he answered. Then he turned serious. "I've seen you stealing from those ducks."

"I can explain-"

The older one raised a hand to silence the child. "S'alright kid, no need to explain," he said. Lowering his hand, he asked. "You're good at what'cha do. There's a group I know of that you might want to join."

The kid looked at him suspiciously.

"Don't worry, it's not a gang or something bad like that," Mystery Man said, waving a hand off as if it were nothing. "But first, what's your name?"

The younger one paused, then muttered something incoherent. Mystery Man smiled. "It's a nice name kid, but how about something a little more regal?"

"Like what?"

The older one thought for a minute. "Well, you're not quite a prince, though I'm sure you could reach that level. How about Duke?"

Smiling, the twelve-year old finally looked the older one in the eye. "Sure," he said. "But I don't know your name."

"How stupid of me," the older one said, laughing a bit. "I'm Baron."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

He woke up slowly, feeling much more refreshed than he had in a very long time. _Wonder why Ma didn't come at me screamin'-_

Then he realized he wasn't at the place he called home. He sat up quickly, to find himself on an actual bed in a well-sized room. At home, all he had to sleep on was an old, worn out mattress in a tiny area. Here, it was like the duckling had his own bedroom.

At this realization, his eyes widened as his hands went to his collar, only to find his pendant still in its place on its chain around his neck. He let out a breath of relief, then looked at the room.

_Not gonna do much if I just sit, _he thought. So he got off the bed and looked around. Not much in the room, but it was still very nice.

As he looked around, he noticed that there was a desk that held the few possessions he held dear to him on it._ How'd those get here?_

On the wall next to the desk was a decent sized mirror. He couldn't see himself in it (malnutrition over the years will stunt a duck's growth y'know), so he pulled out the desk chair and dragged it to the mirror to look in it.

That's when it all came back to him. He had met an older duck by the name of Baron in the park after he had bought his dinner and had been invited to come join a group that had yet to be explained.

One thing the young gray drake did know was that he had a new name.

Duke L'Orange.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Are you sure about this Baron? I mean, you're just about to become a master-"

"I'm sure. I want this kid to apprentice under me."

Two ducks looked at the monitor in front of them. They watched as the small twelve year old that Baron had brought in the night before pulled a desk chair out to look at himself in the mirror. "Besides, most of the masters in this guild have their own apprentices," he continued. "Just because I'm going from a journeyman to master doesn't mean that I can't have an apprentice when I do finally become one next month."

"…alright, if you say so. Are you going to inform the council elders about this?"

"Already did." Baron looked away from the monitor and started to walk out of the room. "They said it was just fine."

"How do you know he'll be any good? He's just a kid."

Baron stopped at the door. "He's got a lot of potential," he said. "It was either take him in or leave him to die. Which was the better option?" He then looked over his shoulder to his comrade. "I wasn't about to let some kid die. Despite being a thief, I've got some honor, unlike a lot of members of the guild."

The other duck watched as Baron opened the door and left the room. _As great as it is that you at least have honor, it could get you killed,_ he thought. _Just watch your back Baron._

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

The twelve year old, now known as Duke, looked at the doorway of the bedroom he was in when he heard the doorknob rattle a little bit. He quickly jumped off the chair and tried to put it back before the door opened.

Halfway in putting it back, the door opened to reveal the one who had found him last night.

Duke just stood where he was and stared. He hadn't gotten a good look at the older drake because it had been night time when they had talked. Looking at him now, the younger duck could see that this guy had been through a lot.

Baron looked like he was about five foot nine, making him a lot taller than the younger one. He had black feathers (which Duke had never seen before), jet black hair that was tied back in a short ponytail, and emerald green eyes. A scar in the shape of a sideways cross decorated the spot above his left eye and seemed to be the most noticeable; the scars on his arms were random, some here and there that Duke could see since the older one was wearing a tight, sleeveless shirt.

"Glad to see you're finally up," Baron greeted. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd wake up today."

"Why, what time is it?" asked Duke. Out of all the things in the room, he hadn't seen a clock or a watch, and there wasn't any windows, so he really didn't know how long he had been there.

"It's about 2:30 in the afternoon," the older one said. He closed the door, going to the desk chair. "You and I need to talk about a few things."

Duke nodded and looked around. There wasn't another chair in the room, so he went and sat on the bed. "What about?"

_He's taking this pretty well,_ Baron thought, bringing the chair closer to the bed, then sitting backwards in it. "A lot of things," he said. "Like for instance, do you want to stay here?"

Duke looked at him with a confused/amazed look on his face. "With you?" he asked.

"Sort of," Baron answered. "Remember how I told you that there was a group you should join?"

The young duck nodded.

"Well, you're here. Welcome to the Brotherhood of the Blade."

"I'm in it? How?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about. Like I said last night, you've got the potential to be one of the greatest thieves on Puckworld. And I've only seen the pick pocket routine you were pulling. _But _you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"I don't?"

"No. You have a choice. But would you rather go back to the life you had, a mother who looks like she's not getting off drugs anytime soon, a home that's in ruins, and trying to steal money from others, just to get a bite to eat? Or would you rather stay here and learn the trade with a roof over your head, people to talk to that can help you as you train, and good food to eat?" Baron looked at Duke from head to toe. "And clothes that would actually fit you?"

Duke thought about those words. Why would he want to go back home? Though he could remember times when he loved his mom, she was strung out most of the time. She didn't work either, so the only money that came into the apartment they had lived in was whatever he could manage to steal. And the only time she seemed to notice him as of late was whenever she had come down from being high and was screaming at him for one thing or another.

Another thing he couldn't remember was the last time he had bought clothes that fit him. He stole those too; when it would come time to get some new clothes, he usually stole from the neighbors because he knew that they wouldn't miss them. Stars, he hadn't even had a decent pair of skates since he was seven. They were dull, though they managed to get him from place to place when the ice was covering Puckworld the nine to ten months out of twelve a year.

"…what I'd be doin' though would be illegal, wouldn't it?" the twelve year old asked. He knew the law…sort of anyway. A lot of people considered stealing to be unlawful, but he always did it to survive. He had _never _thought about taking it up as a career.

"Technically, yes," Baron answered. "But don't think of yourself as purely a thief. While here, you can do other things."

Duke looked confused again. "Like what kinda things?"

"You _are _still going to school," Baron said. He chuckled when the kid groaned. "We don't let recruits be uneducated. The only thing is that you'll be moved to a different school that the Brotherhood knows of. When you go to school, you'll have an alias, but here at the Brotherhood, you're Duke L'Orange."

"Do oth'ah people here do oth'ah stuff too?" Duke asked.

Baron nodded. "A few of the masters in our guild are not only thieves, as I said before. Some have ordinary jobs, like doctors and teachers. But not everyone in the guild has an outside life either.

"Like I said before, it's purely your decision. If you don't want to stay, I can take you back to the apartment you were-"

"NO!" Duke shouted, jumping off his spot on the bed. "I don't wanna go back there! All Ma ev'ah did was get high and scream at me. She hasn't even used my real name since…I can't even rememb'ah when she called me by whatev'ah my name was." He paused, taking a breath. "I don't wanna go back there," he said, his voice getting quieter. "Don't make me…"

Baron frowned and sighed. "I won't make you go back," he told the younger duck. "A kid like you doesn't deserve the life you had before." The drake stood up and went to kneel in front of Duke, who was staring at the floor. "Look at me kid."

Duke met the older one's eyes, looking somewhat broken. Putting his hands on the younger one's shoulders, Baron began to talk.

"I'm not going to make you go back. If I didn't think you had any potential, I would've just left you behind and not have recruited you. But I can see that you have talent. It just needs to be honed."

The young Duke could feel his eyes beginning to tear up. He quickly wiped away the moisture. "I'll stay. When I first sta'hted, it felt…right for some reason, even if I was just stealin' to live."

Baron smiled. "Like I said, you've got talent," he said. "You yourself even knew it long ago."

He took his hands off the kid's shoulders and stood up. "Well, for now I think you could use something to eat. How does that sound?"

"Really?"

"Of course," Baron answered. "After you've eaten, we'll see what clothes we have stashed around here somewhere, then you can rest. The council is in the process of getting a room ready for you right now-"

"I can't stay in this one?" Duke asked as Baron began to lead the way out of the room and to a place where his aching stomach could have its fill.

"Sorry kid. Think of it as a 'guest room', so to speak. You will get to stay here until your room is ready though."

Duke smiled as they kept walking. Maybe being a thief wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.


	3. Chapter 2: Basic Training and Rank

HAI. Another Duke origin chapter! =D I'm trying to make my chapters longer, but it seems that no matter how many pages I fill on Microsoft, they still end up short T-T Oh well.

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

"Basic training is done for today! Go get some rest, all of ya!"

Having heard this from the instructor, the thirty some odd recruits of the Brotherhood filed out of the gym that also acted as a 'classroom'. Different age ranges (the youngest was around thirteen or so, but younger trainees were sometimes accepted,) had different times of the day for classes. More or less depending on the age range that is. For instance, if it was the older group of 15-17, then they would have their training sessions at night.

Duke was glad that that was the case, because he was turning fifteen in another month or so. That meant that at the 'Changing of the Ranks' in another two months, he could finally go up to the older group because that meant that when they turned seventeen, they were tested to see if they _could _be thieves by sending partners on a mission.

But that was just what Duke had heard from the older groups.

Exhausted from the training session, Duke headed towards his room. _Quick shower, some food, then meet Baron for whatever he's got for me today, _the fourteen year old thought. Since his age group (the 12-14 year olds - who were usually runaways, but not always) was not a very big group, they had one of the shorter sessions of training. They also had morning sessions, even on weekdays when the recruits in the guild had school to attend.

And since Duke didn't want to spend the rest of the day smelling disgusting, he usually showered quickly before going to get what he called 'second breakfast' (the morning sessions _always _had him starving by the end of them) then meeting up with his master, Baron.

He liked being Baron's apprentice. Sure, the guy was hard on Duke sometimes, but the teenager knew that a lot of the masters and few journeymen that had apprentices were - or could be - much harsher than Baron. One master had actually been executed by hanging until dead about a year after Duke had joined because the accused had been abusing his young apprentice at the time.

The apprentice (who now was a journeyman), had been afraid to come to the elders of the council that ran the Brotherhood of the Blade until one night when his master had gone too far with the 'punishment' he had given to the student - the then apprentice's body had looked like it had been through a meat grinder because his master had used his own sword on the kid, something that was _never _done. Or at least, wasn't supposed to be done against someone of lower rank or outside of an official duel.

And Baron had always been kind to him in ways that he couldn't even remember his own parents being (not that he remembered much of his dad; a few oddball memories, but that was about it). He was like a father to the teenager; he helped instruct the kid whenever Duke couldn't understand something another leader would say or couldn't get a specific move right that he had seen during training. His master was a patient, caring drake, who also didn't mind voicing his own opinion about things, no matter how harsh his thoughts were.

And that was one of the things that made Duke actually like being a thief-in-training.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Baron sat on his bed, staring at a picture in a frame that he was holding in his hand. He was waiting for his young apprentice when his eye had caught the old frame that he sometimes kept on a table next to his bed.

The older drake sighed. He kind of missed the life he used to have. Sure, he had still been part of the Brotherhood in his past life, but…it hadn't been as stressful. Maybe that was because he had been a journeyman until a month after he had found his protégée. Well, no, that couldn't be it. Even when he had left his old life, he had still been on the middle level until he had reached the Master rank. The reason for him staying a journeyman until then had been for only one reason he could think of, and that was because he hadn't had many assignments and much work on his schedule prior to his full-time guild responsibilities.

A knock reached his ears. Baron didn't even look up as he said, "Come in," thinking it was Duke.

The door opened and someone he wasn't expecting came in instead. "What's with the sulky look Baron?"

The drake looked up to the doorway to see Ace, a fellow member who also was in the Master rank. He wasn't much older than Baron, but he looked like he was; the guy had more scars than Baron had ever seen on another duck, his hair was already almost full-blown gray (and the guy wasn't even thirty-six yet), one eye was clouded over, dubbed useless from an injury that Baron had never asked about, and he had a fake left arm (though he could use it like a real one. Seriously, it had full mobility and everything; no one would've known the difference if he wore long sleeves and gloves.)

"Do I have to explain?" Baron asked, a little cross. He had never explained the picture to the few that saw it and wasn't planning on doing so anytime soon. "Why are you here Ace? Aren't you supposed to be in session with that failure you call an apprentice?"

"Falcone's got potential," Ace said. "He just needs to work on his temper and patience."

_Yeah, and Drake DuCaine didn't defeat the Saurians,_ Baron thought. _What Falcone needs is to be kicked out. He never should've been brought in anyway. His skills are severely lacking, considering he hasn't gone through the Changing of the Ranks. Twice._

It _was _sad actually. Ace's apprentice, who was from a neighboring planet but had been abandoned on Puckworld at a young age, had come into the Brotherhood when he was thirteen. His name was Falcone, which when one looked at it the right way, could've been some odd pun to what he actually was - a falcon. Baron had no idea if that was his actual name from before he came into the guild or some kind of nickname that he refused to give up, but whatever it was, it sounded stupid to him.

Ace was right about one thing; the kid had a temper and wasn't very patient when running simulations of burglaries, which was one of the reasons he had failed and was unable to pass the Changing of the Ranks. He was the oldest of the age group that Duke was in at the moment, though they weren't in the same group set.

"So why are you here?" Baron asked again, standing and setting the picture frame face-down on the table next to his bed. "Usually when you come to me, it's for advice on how to handle that novice you have. So what did he do now?"

"Nothing at all," Ace said, bringing his arms up in a 'I surrender' sort of motion. He smiled. "Just thought you should know that he's finally being put into the older group."

"Oh, so did he suddenly get better at being a thief?" Baron asked. "Or did you have to do a little bribing so that you wouldn't look more like a disgrace than you already do?"

Ace just smiled, arms falling back to his side. "Does it matter? Falcone's finally going to be going up in the ranks. Now all we'll have to see about is whether or not your kid can be up to par."

…_is that supposed to be a rhetorical question, or does he really believe that?_ Baron wondered, as he glared at Ace.

Suddenly, another knock at the door interrupted their little conversation. "Come in," Baron said, knowing this time that it would be Duke.

The door opened this time to reveal his protégée. Duke walked into the room a little bit, not bothering to close the door when he saw Ace. He knew that Baron and Ace had some kind of rivalry - putting it lightly of course - but he couldn't ever figure out what it was about.

"I know when to take my leave," Ace said. He headed out of the door and shut it rather loudly behind him.

Duke looked back from the door to Baron. "What was that about?"

Baron sighed. "Nothing really," he answered. He then went over to his desk that was in the corner of the medium, studio-style room that acted as Baron's living quarters. "Ready for today's lesson kid?"

The fourteen year old nodded.

"Alright, take a seat at the table and we'll get started."

Duke took his shoes off and ran over to the small dining table that Baron had, taking a seat. Baron had a policy that if you were entering his abode (and staying for more than five minutes), you had to take your shoes off.

The masters, elders, and leader of the council all had bigger rooms than that of the recruits and journeymen/maids of the guild. Duke had never seen an elder's or the leader of the council's room, but Baron's was a decent sized place. Almost like a real studio apartment that Duke had seen a few times when he used to wander around his neighborhood as a kid.

So Duke sat as Baron looked in the mini-fridge that he kept in his room and pulled out a few sodas. The older master brought the cans to the table, setting one in front of his ward. "Today's session isn't demonstrative," Baron told Duke as he sat down. "So have a drink as you listen."

Duke popped his can open, settling himself for the lesson.

This was the custom whenever the lesson wasn't demonstrative. Each master in the guild had a different method of teaching this way; some would take their apprentices to outside ground (that was still apart of Brotherhood's property of course) while others would teach in other parts in one of the buildings. Baron preferred his own quarters though. He had once said to Duke that he didn't want others to interfere with their lessons and there was less chance of that when in his room.

So the two sat at the table, Duke drinking from a soda can as his master spoke.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"I'm proud of ya kid."

Duke smiled as he felt Baron clap him on the shoulder. He turned and looked to his master. "It's only 'cuz of you though that I could go up in tha' ranks," the fifteen year old reminded him.

The Changing of the Ranks ceremony had just ended. Duke had been at the top of the class, so to speak. Because of this, both Baron and Duke had been honored at the ceremony; Baron though had been looking for the Falcone kid that Ace kept bragging about. Only problem was that he couldn't find him. Despite the fact that Falcone was not a duck, he was not an easy creature to spot in a crowd.

"Somethin' wrong Baron?"

Said master looked at his apprentice. "It's nothing kid," he assured the younger one, smiling. "How about we go celebrate?"

Duke looked confused. "Really?" he asked. "But we'll just have trainin' again tomorr'ah, won't we?"

Baron laughed. "I guess you forgot that you get a week off before the next stage starts up."

Duke's eyes widened in surprise. "I do?"

"Yup. But tonight you're getting a free dinner that's not on Brotherhood property. So what kind of food do you want?"

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke stared at his now empty plate, one hand playing with the coin pendant around his neck. Baron was still finishing his dinner, so Duke just had to wait.

"Something bothering you kid?"

Duke looked up to his master and shrugged.

The older drake put his utensils down and reached for his wine glass. "Do you regret becoming a member?" he asked quietly.

The teenager shook his head. "It's nothin' like that," he said. "It's just…"

A few moments of silence followed before Baron asked, "Just what?"

Duke sighed. "It's just…I don't miss the life I had before. I was always stealin' just to eat or to get clothes that would fit. Ma was always yellin' at me when she came down from bein' strung out, which was a lot of the time. But…there were rare times when she was like what I rememb'ah her bein' like before dad left. I guess I just miss her for some twisted reason."

Baron took a sip of wine. "What was she like?" he asked. The master knew what she was like when she had been on drugs, considering he had known when he had found Duke. Well, between that and what the teenager had told him over the three years they had been training.

"…wonderful," Duke answered. "I don't have many memories of what she was like before tha' heroin, but I remember that she was…kind. She would say that she loved me, even if she yelled later after gettin' high that I was useless. I guess in some twisted way, I still love her."

Baron placed his now empty glass back on the table. "That's how it usually works," he said. "A kid of abuse or someone in the type of situation you were in usually has some kind of love reserved for their parents, no matter how twisted or strange it may seem." He looked his apprentice in the eye. "It's not strange that you miss her, considering you were taking care of her, plus yourself, and now you don't know what might've happened to her in the three years you've been gone."

Duke just sighed, looking more lost than he already felt.

"Something else on your mind?"

The teenager nodded. "I only have a couple of oddball memories of my dad," he said. "And…sometimes, from what I can remember, I wond'ah what he would think if he saw me trainin' to be a thief."

He didn't notice Baron's body tense.

"I can't tell ya either," the master finally said after a minute. "But maybe, if he had seen what your life was like before you joined the guild, he wouldn't disapprove."

Duke looked at his master, a strange look in his eye. "Baron, did you…know my dad?"

Baron sighed. "The truth is, I briefly did."

"Briefly?"

The older one nodded. "He was wanting to get out of the guild," he said. "Said that thievery didn't really work when one has a family. And he had another area of expertise that he was really good at, or so he said. But…"

Duke waited, but Baron didn't continue. "But what? Wait, my _dad _was in tha' Brotherhood?"

"He was, but he wasn't a Master," Baron answered. "He died shortly before he could leave. And you know what the penalty is for trying to leave the guild permanently-"

"-death."

Baron nodded. "By firing squad, oddly enough," he said.

"…did they execute him without lettin' him say anythin'?"

The older drake sighed.

"Baron?"

"I was at the execution," Baron started. "I had to watch, along with the rest of the guild, just like you had to watch that one Master hanged before. I was close enough to hear what was said.

"He died well. No bribe or blubbery...he just simply said 'please...please I need to live'. It was the please that had caught the leader of the squad's attention, as well as mine. The leader asked him what was so important. 'My family' he replied."

"But they didn't listen."

Baron shook his head. "They blindfolded him and executed him anyway."

* * *

I bet NO ONE who read this chapter will get the last bit that Baron explained to Duke about the execution. Any ideas? I gotta hint for ya. It's from a movie =3

...can't guess? Just wait until the next chapter to find out then! *insert evil laughter*


	4. Chapter 3: Injury and a History Lesson

HAI A-GAIN.

Okay, explicit warning (well, not really, but still): Since I've been running out of bad duck related puns, I've moved to where they are cussing and using the puns. If anyone has any they wanna share, go right ahead because even with the series, there aren't that many that are duck related.

As for the usual Author's Note thing I put up, here's something interesting. This chapter is actually a combination of many inspirational pieces to me; "The Queen of the Darkness" from the Black Jewels Trilogy books, "The Princess Bride" movie, "Talledaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" (don't ask), and too many hours of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 and Fire Emblem.

So with that said, enjoy.

...P.S. If you've read another one of my stories, you'll recognize a name in here x3

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

"OW! FUCK!"

Duke quickly sank to his knees on the mats that were used for combat training, hunched over, cradling his left arm. His sparring partner quickly freaked out and dropped to the ground. "I didn't mean to Duke!" the other exclaimed. "I thought you could take a bit more, but you turned like that and-"

"Enough you two!"

Both students looked up at the female Master leading the combat sparring session for the day. "Duke, can you stand up and let me look at your arm?"

The sixteen year old slowly got to his feet. He could feel tears starting to build up in his eyes as the master known as Rose probed his arm because pain was shooting up, it seemed, from his arm to his shoulder.

But Duke wasn't about to cry in front of a master.

Then again, despite all the injuries he'd ever gotten before and after joining the Brotherhood, he had never broken anything. And it _hurt_.

_Seems like today's now skewed,_ the teenager thought, wincing as the female leader continued to examine his arm, then at his shoulder. As she did, he looked at his arm. It was bent in a way he was pretty sure it wasn't before the sparring match had started, and he didn't really know what his shoulder looked like, he just knew that it hurt. _A lot_.

What had happened was simple, yet it kept replaying in his head.

Duke and his sparring partner, another recruit younger than him by about six months or so, had been practicing hand-to-hand combat when the other had slipped behind him and grabbed him arm, twisting it behind Duke's back. Duke had figured out a way out of the hold, but it seemed that his opponent had wanted to do something else.

So two moves from two different opponents had resulted in the injuring of Duke's arm and shoulder.

"Alright, you need to go to the Infirmary and get one of the docs to patch you up," Rose told him. "It looks like it's broken while your shoulder's dislocated, but that's just my guess." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bandanna that she usually carried. "Here, this'll keep your arm level and it'll be easier than cradling it the whole time," she said, making a improvised sling. She quickly finished the sling and patted him on the non-injured shoulder. "Now go down there. I'll inform Baron about what happened."

She turned to the duck who had been his partner. "You go with him and make sure he gets down there all right."

The younger duck nodded.

Thus started the journey to the Infirmary.

It was an awkward walk, mainly because the kid who had been Duke's sparring partner (Duke didn't really know him, so he didn't know his name) kept apologizing for doing what he did. Duke would continue to say that it was alright and it wasn't a big deal.

Finally they reached the Infirmary. Duke walked in, his escort behind him and they both looked around.

Duke had wondered what Baron had meant when he had recruited the younger one about how "not all of us are purely thieves" when he first joined the Brotherhood. It wasn't until he was fourteen and got a rather bad gash that needed stitches that he figured out what his master meant. Though he should've known at the time, he didn't really think of thieves needing doctors…until he had gotten stitches anyway.

The Infirmary wasn't just like a tiny clinic that most people thought of, like in the movies when bad guys needed medical attention. This place practically had its own wing on the Brotherhood property it was so big. An easier way to describe it (Duke guessed) was that it was like a small hospital.

A nurse walked out of one of the many doors that led to other parts of the Infirmary. "Duke! What are you doing here?" she asked. She came up to him and looked at his arm. "Geez, what'd you do this time?"

"It's my fault Roxana!" the duck next to Duke exclaimed. "I didn't mean to hurt him, we were-"

"We were trainin' and we both just did the wrong thing at the wrong time," Duke explained lightly. He smiled. "I wasn't exactly expectin' it, so it was a good move I guess."

"It was?" his sparring partner asked.

"Sure, look what ya did! This'll be a kill'ah move against guards an' stuff."

"I…I guess so," the other said sheepishly.

Duke smiled to the younger one. "Why dont'cha go back and tell Rose I'm okay? She's prob'ly wonderin' where ya are."

He nodded slowly, then turned around and left out the Infirmary doors.

Roxana turned her gaze from where he left to Duke's arm. "We'll need Doc to look at you right away," she said, leading him to an examination area. "Just by looking at your arm, I think you were a little too easy on that kid."

"Rox, I know your twenty some-odd years older than me, but that doesn't mean you know everything," Duke said lightheartedly. "He was spastic when it first happened. I didn't wanna worry 'em any more than what I did."

Roxana just smiled. "You sound more and more like Baron everyday," she said, making him sit on a stretcher in the examination room they were in. "Which reminds me, where is he? If Rose informed him about this, he should be here soon."…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

_10 Minutes Before…_

/Hey Baron, you there?/

Baron took a deep breath, sighed, pushed away from the paperwork at his desk, and held his wrist comm up. "What is it Rose? I'm kinda busy right now."

/Duke's going to the Infirmary. Thought you should know./

The older drake tensed and sat up straighter in his chair when he heard that sentence. "Is he alright?" he asked.

/Just some sparring incident. Duke and Spade were practicing hand-to-hand combat when Spade got his arm behind his back. When Duke tried to slip out of it, something went wrong, though I'm not sure what. They don't really know either, they just both tried to do what they were doing, y'know?/

Baron got out of his chair and went to the door that led entry to his quarters, shoving his feet into his shoes. "How bad is he hurt?"

/Well, I took a look, and it looks like his arm might be broken. His shoulder seemed to be bothering him as well, but I'm not sure what might've happened to it./

Baron sighed. "Thanks Rose."

/Anytime./

With that, his comm shut off and he went out the door, trying to get to the Infirmary as fast as he could so he could meet Duke there…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"…If Rose informed him about this, he should be here soon."

"Who should be what now?"

Roxana turned around and saw Baron. "Well well well, speak of the Saurian," she said. She motioned to Duke, who had just sat down. "Your apprentice got hurt, so I'm gonna go get Doc and see what he'll wanna do."

She left and Baron pulled up a nearby chair. "Rose told me what happened," he started, taking a seat. He studied his young apprentice's arm and shoulder. "Looks like you'll be out awhile."

Duke frowned. "Do you really think so Baron?"

"Well, if your arm really is broken like Rose thought, then that alone is about six to eight weeks of down time," Baron explained. "I dunno about a dislocated shoulder, if you do actually have one."

Duke groaned. "Great. So what am I s'pposed to do with all that down time?"

"Let's see what Doc says first, then figure that out," Baron told him. He ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. "Geez kid, I'm not even thirty-six yet and you're giving me more gray hairs than I thought I would have."

"At least you still have it, 'stead of losin' it," Duke pointed out.

"Waiting for me?"

The two looked up to see Doc, the head of the Infirmary of the Brotherhood of the Blade.

Now, Doc was one of the more interesting drakes of the guild, mainly because he came in so late in his life and he didn't join to be a thief. He had actually joined shortly after Duke had come into the picture and the elders of the council had gladly welcomed Doc with open arms.

Apparently, shortly before Doc had joined the guild, he had been Puckworld's top doctor with many degrees and PhD's. Everyone in the both the guild and outside world knew that he was (or rather, had been) Dr. Yatomi Shinosuke, brilliant genius. He had been working with the military until some sort of falling out with the other doctors and one or two generals caused him to leave, meaning that he was now AWOL. Somehow or another, he had found the Brotherhood and asked to join. He didn't want to steal, but he had said that he wanted to continue being a healer, despite the fact that it would be for the opposite side this time; so the council agreed and he went to join the other doctors in the Infirmary.

Doc quickly looked at Duke's arm in its sling and tsked. "What'd you do this time?" he asked, coming over to the young drake, taking the sling off, and beginning to examine his arm and shoulder.

So Duke explained the story to Doc as he probed at the teenager's left arm and shoulder. Every now and again, Duke would wince or hiss in pain, but Doc kept looking.

After a few minutes, the physician pulled away. "I want to scan you over with one of the Med-I-Coms and confirm my diagnosis." He thought for a second. "Say, isn't it time for your bi-annual physical Duke?"

The teenager pondered for a minute, but before he could answer, Baron interjected. "I believe it is," he said. "Should we go ahead and do that as well?"

"Well yes, but like I said, I want to scan him first," Doc answered. "So come on kid, let's go."Duke hopped off the bed, cradling his arm in place of the sling, as he and his master followed Doc to another part of the Infirmary that held Med-I-Com beds.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Just keep your arm in that sling and we'll check your shoulder in a few weeks."

Duke groaned as Baron thanked Doc for 'fixing his apprentice up' before master and pupil left the Infirmary.

"So what am I s'pposed to do with six weeks of no training?" asked Duke tiredly.

He did _not _like what the diagnosis had been. Both Roxana and Rose had been right; his shoulder was dislocated and left arm broken. So for the next six to eight weeks, he was going to have to keep his arm in a cast, while the sling/shoulder immobilizer would keep his left shoulder from moving too much. What had made Duke feel worse was that he had been drugged so that Doc and Roxana could put his shoulder back into place, and it had _still _been painful. Right after they started, he couldn't remember anything but pain until he woke up about two hours later, still feeling groggy.

"We'll just do something else," Baron said, facing Duke. Concern suddenly flashed on his face. "Are you sure you're okay to walk kid? You still look really out of it."

"I'm okay," Duke said, but couldn't stifle the rather loud yawn that came after that.

Then the next thing he remembered was the world going black.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"_C'mere Scamp!"_

_A small five year old looked back at his father and smiled. "Poppa!"_

_The older drake smiled and opened his arms up as he went to his knees. "C'mere kiddo, it's time for dinner," he said, waiting for the small child to come to him. "Mom's got your favorite tonight."_

"_S'ketti?" the five year old exclaimed excitedly. When his father nodded, the young duckling ran over to him and hugged him. "Let's go!" he exclaimed, laughing. His father smiled, wrapped his arms around his son, and got up. _

_The hatchling was so busy just laughing with his father that he didn't notice when the two had reached the kitchen table._

"_Ready for dinner sweetie?" his mother asked, just smiling to her 'boys'. Her husband sat their son down in his seat before going over to his wife and holding her in his arms. _

"_I know I am," he said, nuzzling his bill against hers. _

"_Eeeww!" their son exclaimed from his seat. "Kissin's gross!"_

_Both mother and father laughed, turning to their son…_

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"-c'mon kid, wake up."

Duke could hear Baron's voice, but couldn't get his voice to work.

Or his eyes to open.

But why could he hear him?

"What happened Baron?"

"He just passed out back in the hall, though I've got a pretty good idea as to why."

It sounded like Baron was talking to Rose. Why was Rose…wherever they were?

Duke wasn't sure where he was, but he knew that whatever he was on, it was soft. He thought he felt a blanket, or something to that degree, covering him. Something cold and damp was covering part of his face. A compress?

"Kid tried to prove he could walk back to his room?"

"That's the gist of it." Baron sighed. "He was looking too groggy when I asked him if he was alright. He started to say that he was fine, but then he collapsed."

"I'm surprised he woke up as fast as you said he did after Doc reset his shoulder. Usually someone is _out _if they have to get a dislocated shoulder reset-"

Duke finally managed to groan a little, getting the attention of the two masters. He felt the compress being moved. "You finally up kid?" Baron's voice asked, in a gentler tone than Duke had ever heard from him.

The sixteen year old managed to open his eyes a slit. "Baron?" he asked, his own voice sounding unfamiliar to even himself. "Wha' happened?"

"You collapsed out in the hall," Baron told him, sitting on the bed, facing Duke. The older drake placed the compress back on his apprentice's forehead. "I told you that you shouldn't have walked back, but you claimed to be just fine. Then you fell over." He paused when Rose walked over closer to Duke's bed. "If Rose here hadn't of come when she did, I wouldn't have been able to get you on my back to bring you here to your room."

The sixteen year old averted his gaze. "Sorry," he said. "I didn' mean to-"

"What, worry the shit outta Baron here?"

Both drakes looked at Rose.

Now, while Rose was not one of the top-ranking masters of the guild, she certainly was the most outspoken. She was pretty blunt when it came to talking and could be a bit of a smart-ass at times.

But oddly enough, that's what people liked her for.

"If you had _listened _to your master like you're _supposed _to, you wouldn't have had that little episode out in the hall!"

"Rose."

"What were you thinking Duke? You just had your damn shoulder reset-"

"_Rose_."

"-and you shouldn't be walking around with the medicine still in your system!"

"_Rose_!"

The female quickly shut up when Baron practically yelled. "Let me talk to the kid," Baron said, looking at her sharply. "He's _my _apprentice. Let _me _deal with it."

Her shoulders slackened from the tense stance she had taken and sighed. "Alright Baron, he's yours once again," she said. As she turned around to leave, she said, "Hope you feel better soon kid."

And with that she left.

Baron sighed and looked back down at Duke. "She does have a point though," he said gently. "You did scare the feathers off me when you passed out. I wasn't sure where to take you, here or to the Infirmary, much less how. If she hadn't come when she did, then I dunno what I would've done."

"…sorry."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. As Baron took the cloth off Duke's forehead, the teenager spoke again. "Hey Baron?"

"What is it?" he asked, leaning over to reach the bowl on the floor that held ice-cold water. He was in mid-dipping of the compress in the water when Duke's question caught him off guard.

"Do you ev'ah dream of stuff that you can barely rememb'ah when awake?"

Baron looked to his apprentice, somewhat confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, bringing the cloth back up after wringing it out.

Duke sighed. "I dreamt about somethin' odd," he said. "Both my parents were there, though I couldn' really make out my dad's face…it wuz weird."

Baron brought the cold compress back to Duke's forehead and just held it there for a moment. "Was it at least a good memory?" he asked, his voice sounding sad.

The teenager yawned. "I think so," he said, starting to get tired. "My dad was tellin' me it wuz time for dinn'ah and Ma had pasta ready. He carried me to the kitchen table, then went ov'ah and hugged Ma."

Baron could see that his protégée was starting to fade back into unconsciousness. "It was probably just a dream kid," he said, beginning to bathe the younger drake's face. "But who knows. Just get some sleep kid, you need it."

"…uhm, I know it's gonna sound kinda stupid, but…"

"But what?"

"…will you stay?"

Baron smiled softly. "Sure kid. I'll stay. Besides, my room's too far away from here if you needed me."

Duke grinned, feeling his eyelids growing heavier.

Within a few moments, Baron heard soft breathing, meaning that he was sound asleep.

The older drake sighed, placing the compress back onto the sleeping teenager's brow. He got up from his seat on the bed and grabbed Duke's desk chair. He placed it next to the small bed and sat, a sad look on his face and who only knew what kind of emotion in his eyes. _Don't they say that dreams are "the gateway to memories"? _Baron thought. _If so…who knows what else Duke will remember._

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

_3 Weeks Later…_

Duke was _not _a happy camper.

Doc had just come to the teen's room and evaluated how his shoulder was healing. He had told the younger drake that he needed the sling for at least another week before they tried any physical therapy (though they had tried a little bit. It just wasn't anything heavy.)

So he was still stuck with nothing to do. Most days, he'd go see Baron and bug him if the older drake had no lesson to teach. Sometimes, he'd go see Rose and see how the hand-to-hand combat was going since he had been excused from his training sessions in order to heal. And since Spade hadn't been reprimanded for the break/dislocation (since it was purely an accident and the younger drake had been very sorry - he _still _apologized whenever he saw Duke and got the chance to talk to him,) Duke got to talk to him and see how his training had been after the incident.

But now the sixteen year old was stuck with another week of the stupid sling, with nothing to do. Granted, he knew that a dislocated shoulder took a long time to heal, but still! How the puck did a duck keep from going INSANE?

So, instead of another day of moping around, he figured he'd go see his master.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"You shouldn't baby him Baron. He's a teenager now. He's even going to be pulling off his first mission in a few months!"

"I know that!"

Duke stood just outside his master's door, listening to Baron arguing with Ace. It seemed that over the last three years, the two had been more like blood-thirsty enemies than just rivals; before, it had just been minor arguments every once in awhile, but lately they'd practically been at each other's throats.

"Look, he's _my _student, let me do what I want!"

"The kid's not stupid, he knows something!" Ace yelled back. "Just tell the brat and be done with it!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Duke had to practically jump out of the way when the door opened and Ace stomped out of the room and down the hall. When he saw that the other master was gone, Duke gathered his courage up and stepped into the room to see what had taken place.

Baron was clearly distraught. He was currently pacing over by the kitchen area of his quarters, looking steamed over something. Duke looked around for any indication of what might have caused the bit of argument he (and he was sure the whole Brotherhood) had heard.

That's when his eyes fell upon the picture frame that Baron usually kept face-down on the nightstand table. The glass was smashed on the floor and it covered its own little area close to the kitchen table, but the frame was still face down.

_Does this have somethin' to do with me?_ Duke couldn't help but wonder. _I mean, I _did _hear Baron say "he's my student", so I bet it does. _He wandered in a bit closer towards his master. "Baron?"

Immediately, the teacher stopped his pacing and looked at his pupil. "How much did you hear?" he asked darkly.

"Just the end of it," Duke said. "Does any of this hafta do with me?"

Baron sighed. "Yes and no," he answered cryptically. He went over and picked up the smashed frame from its spot on the floor. He frowned when he looked at the picture. "I've never shown you this in all the time we've been training. I think it's time you saw it." He sat at the table, frame still in his hands, just staring at it.

Duke's curiosity rose as he walked over to the table and sat down in the only other chair across from his master. He had never seen Baron distraught over something, and he was beginning to wonder what the deal with the picture _really _was. Sure, when he had first joined he had asked about the face-down frame, but after getting no real answer, he figured it was Baron's business and he'd tell Duke if he wanted to.

So he watched as Baron stared at it for another few minutes, then handed over the frame. Duke accepted it with his good hand and took a look at it.

Now, to the normal duck, there wouldn't seem to be anything particularly interesting about it. But Duke could see the worn out spots in the corners, the fading of color, and overall wear of the portrait. This picture seemed very important to Baron.

The teenager could only guess that it had been taken sometime before the older drake had joined because he saw a much younger Baron, sitting next to a young female he didn't recognize. They were both in awe over a hatchling that lay in her arms. Duke guessed that the baby couldn't have been more than a year old or so.

Either way, the picture looked like a normal family photo.

"I don't get it," Duke said, finally raising his head. "Why would you need to tell me about your family, if that's who these two are here?"

Baron sighed, focusing his view on the coin pendant that Duke never seemed to take off. "Because when you first came here, you asked about the portrait and I didn't tell you. Well, over the years, you've told me so much about how bad your life was or you'd talk about the few good memories you had. Lately…I guess I've missed my life before I entered the guild full-time, and Ace has been giving me a really hard time about it."

"…that's it? Really?"

Baron looked at his pupil. "Whaddya mean by 'that's it'?"

"I figured it was somethin' much bigg'ah," Duke said. "Ace sounded…odd when he was yellin'." That brought up a thought. "Why did he say that you need to stop ' babyin' ' me? I don't think you've done that."

"Not according to him," Baron said. "But then again, Ace doesn't know jack-shit about anything. I think he said that because he thinks you should be training, despite the fact that you could re-injure your shoulder if you did that right now."

"Then what about the smashed picture?"

The older drake sighed again. "Ace came in while I was looking at it, and he thinks I should tell you my past since you don't know it. So here goes."

Duke straightened up, having been wanting his master's history since he had joined.

"Before I joined the guild full-time, I was a journeyman with a side life, as you can see by the picture," Baron started, indicating the photo still in Duke's hand. "My wife and I got married when I was nineteen. I even told her that I was a part of the guild, but she didn't care. She told me that she loved me and it didn't change anything that I was also a thief." Baron chuckled. "She even said once that I had stolen her heart the moment she first saw me, so that should've been an indication.

"Some time later, we had an egg together and when it hatched, I couldn't help but feel the way she said she had when we first met. I remember the first night in the Incubation Unit; about an hour after our son hatched from his egg, I sat in a chair and just held him. He was a precious jewel to me and I didn't want anything to happen to him."

"But something did," Duke said, placing the frame back on the table. "Or you wouldn't be here now."

"…yeah, something happened," Baron agreed. "For a few years, I managed to be able to do what I did back then and have a family. All I did in the guild during that time was teach a few classes and pull some jobs for the council about twice a year. Otherwise I was at home, raising my son while my wife worked. She loved her job as a social worker, and I wasn't about to tell her she couldn't work." He smiled. "I got to spend so much time with my family that I guess it wasn't meant to last."

Duke stared at him for a moment. "What do ya mean?" he asked.

Baron sighed. "Around the time of my son's fifth birthday, some arguments were starting to arise within the council over the leader at the time and the one that's currently the head of the guild. But then again, those weren't good days for the Brotherhood. Males and females were forced to take sides, though no one really wanted to be forced onto a side.

"For about a year this went on, until the council couldn't take anymore. They ordered an official duel between the former and current leader, saying whoever came out on top was the new head of the guild-"

"Wait a sec, what's this gotta do with your family?" Duke interjected.

"I was getting to that," Baron said. "You see, before the duel took place, the former leader was looking into the members of the guild and seeing what they did to 'benefit the guild's prosperity' or some shit like that. He…he even went so far as to killing families of the guilds' members to 'set an example'."

"Which is why he had to be stopped, right?" Duke asked.

Baron nodded, looking at the picture again. "I…I couldn't stay with them. I didn't want my son or wife to be killed because of me. So when the time came, I abandoned them, as cowardly as that might sound, compared to others who ran from the guild and took their families with them or something to that extent."

"Doesn't sound like it to me," Duke said. "You were tryin' to protect 'em."

His master just sighed. "But even after the duel, I couldn't go back," he said. "I wanted to so bad, but there was still a lot of turmoil and division between those who supported the old leader and those who wanted a new order with the current leader. By the time things settled down…I found myself scared to go back."

Duke looked at him oddly. "Why? I'm sure they would'ah been happy that you were alive and okay."

"It's just…it took three years for the smoke to finally settle when the current leader of our guild took order," Baron explained. "I didn't think my son would recognize me and I wasn't sure my wife would forgive me. It wasn't until almost five years ago that I finally worked up enough nerve to go and find out what had happened to them."

"Do you know what became of 'em?"

His master was silent for a few moments.

Did he look like he was about to cry?

"My wife was not the same as when I had left," Baron said, his voice sounding shaky. "She was practically insane. She didn't even recognize our son. And he…"

"It's okay Baron, ya don't gotta tell me," Duke said, trying to comfort his teacher.

"I never wanted my son to be a thief. But he was stealing from others, just to survive."

That struck a chord in Duke. _What…?_

"I was going to fake my death and quit the guild before the turmoil started. But then the killing of members' families made me stop and I chose what I did instead."

Duke stared at Baron, who was looking at his hands, as if inspecting them. Then Duke looked at the portrait again, examining it closer this time.

That's when he saw two major things that he had somehow missed before. The coin pendant that was around Baron's neck and the gray plumage color of the young duckling.

Duke's eyes widened. _Drake DuCaine! How the puck did I miss _that_? _He looked back up at his master. "Baron…?"

Said drake looked Duke in the eye. "When the three of us were living our life together, I never wanted you to become a thief like me. My plan was that after I faked my death, I would take you and your mother somewhere else on Puckworld where we could live in peace, a part from the Brotherhood. And since my other area of expertise was in espionage and I had the physical training, I could be a cop. Odd career choice I know, but it would've been something else to do."

A few moments of silence passed before Duke finally did anything. He stood up from his seat, one hand on the table. "Liar."

Baron looked at him. "What?"

"You told me that my dad was executed in front of da whole guild!" Duke exclaimed. "Why'd ya lie to me, if _you're _actually him?"

"Because I _was _going to be executed!" Baron yelled, quickly standing.

Duke looked dumbfounded. "What?"

"I _was _about to be executed by the firing squad, within the hour of the decision," Baron explained, but he was clearly pissed. "But the duel between leaders took place during that hour and the current one won. When it came time for my execution, the leader came to my cell before the guards did and asked what I did that deserved to be killed. I answered that my only crime was having a family that I loved and felt like I needed to rescue from the clutches of the Brotherhood if I had to." Baron's face fell into a sullen look, but his voice still held a hint of being angry. "The leader just smiled and cleared my name. He said 'if that's all, I don't think it should be a crime.' Then he freed me."

Duke paused, not sure how to answer to that.

Baron turned from the table, back facing Duke. "Just…just go. Please, just leave."

The almost seventeen year old just stared at Baron, hearing all that sadness in his voice.

Then he walked out of the room.

Baron felt himself fall to his knees as tears fell.

He had almost wished Duke hadn't listened to him and stayed.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Rose was beginning to get worried.

She hadn't seen either Baron or Duke for about five days. She didn't think much about it for the first two, mainly because Doc had told her about Duke's shoulder when she had asked about it and she figured he was just a bit bummed out. And since this was about the time of year that anyone with a Master ranking had to do evaluations on either the classes they taught, their apprentices, or both, she figured that Baron had been buried in paperwork since he had been running a bit behind with evaluations and some other things he usually worked with.

But when the third day came around, she started to get worried. Duke hadn't shown up to hand-to-hand combat sessions like he had been (even though he was watching/visiting instead of training) and Baron hadn't shown up to any meals. So she had gone to both of their quarters and knocked on their doors, receiving no answer from either.

When the fourth day came, she put trays of food outside each of their doors. When she came back later, Duke's tray was devoid of any food while Baron's hadn't been touched.

So as today was end of the fifth day, she was very concerned.

Once again, the tray she had left outside the kid's door had been empty. When she went to Baron's quarters again, she was upset.

He hadn't touched the food. Again.

So with no idea as to what had happened or what shape Baron might be in, she opened the door and went in.

And was not expecting him to be like he was.

She took a few steps in and closed the door. "Baron?" she asked. "Where are you?"

When no one answered, she ventured in a bit further of the medium sized room. Since it was in the style of a studio apartment, Baron had stuff separated off by screens or foldable walls.

When she saw his bed, there was a lump that she could make out in the dark room that was probably the other Master. _Don't tell me he's been in bed for the past five days, _Rose thought as she walked towards his bed. _But then, what would've caused him to do that?_

"Baron, are you awake?" she asked, coming up to the side of his bed.

When she did however, her eyes widened, a sheer look of terror coming upon her face.

"BARON!"


	5. Chapter 4: Loss of Something Important?

HAI A-GAIN. I hope people are actually enjoying this, because I don't wanna hear how everyone hated this idea of an origin story -_-

Anyway, that said, I'm leaving most of my author's notes for the end of the chapter. It'd give away stuff if I did them here. Oh, by the way, did anyone actually see what was coming in the last chapter? Just wondering. Also, I dunno why I never said so before, but there actually _is_ an inspiration for the Doc character. A theater director at my college was one of the last to get a certain PhD in theater when he was still a student (because they stopped the PhD program for the theater area at that time period), so he's one of the only people we can call "Doc".

ALSO! Duke's accent is getting harder to write. So if it looks funny to you, sorry. I'm just trying to write an accent while making it understandable at the same time.

Just sayin' ^shrugs^

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS or a quote in this story. If I did, I'd be rich

* * *

"Duke! Are you in there?"

Said teenager looked up from the book he had been trying to distract himself with to the door. "Rose?" he asked. Rising, he put the book down, went to his door and opened it.

The master before him was clearly hysterical, her face having a sheer look of horror upon it, eyes looking as if they had seen too much. "Rose what's wrong?" he asked, noticing this appearance.

"It's Baron!"

"…what about him?" Duke asked cautiously.

"He tried to kill himself!"

"WHAT?"

"I-I found him in his room when I went to t-try and talk to him," she said, her voice shaky. "I hadn't s-seen either you or him for almost five days, so I went into his room to maybe find out w-why he hadn't been around. I-I figured he was just buried in paperwork, but when I found him, he was laying in his own blood on his bed."

Duke's eyes widened for a moment, then his "let's get down to business" face came up. "Where is he now?" he asked.

"Doc's looking at him in the Infirmary. I found him about fifteen minutes ago-"

"Let's get down there then!"

Rose just stared at him for a moment, then nodded, some of the fear in her eyes beginning to leave. "We should," she agreed. "Doc might need something."

So the two ran as fast as they could to the Infirmary and found a rather large group in the main lobby area. "What's with the crowd?" Duke asked.

A few of the men and women in the back of the crowd turned around after hearing Duke's remark and a look of relief seemed to come over their distraught faces. "You gotta get in there kid," one of them said. "Doc said that Baron needs blood, but he's refusing it. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

So Duke was pushed towards the front of the crowd, until he found himself at the front of the group, in front of a set of doors that led to one of the emergency rooms of the Infirmary. The sixteen year old found himself scared to go in, because of whatever he might see, but managed to quickly gather up his courage and opened one of the double doors, going in.

Inside, he found Doc and Roxana quickly at work on the downed master. Doc was on Baron's right while Roxana the left, each trying to do something of their own to help. Currently, Doc was trying to suppress the blood that flowed from the drake's forearm while Roxana was attempting to put in an IV.

Duke had been standing there a full minute before either noticed him. "Guess you heard," Doc said, looking at the apprentice. "He passed out a few minutes ago and won't take a transfusion-"

"But he needs it, right?" Duke asked.

The older drake nodded.

Duke brought his right arm up to his left hand in its sling and started to roll up the long sleeve of his shirt. "Then fuck it, take mine."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me Doc," the teenager said, continuing to try and roll up his sleeve. "Take mine and let me give him blood. If he bitches lat'ah, I'll take tha heat."

Roxana looked at Doc, who nodded to her. "Alright Duke, but you're sure about this?" the female asked, turning her attention back to the teenager. "Do you even know what blood type you are?"

"I'm a Type O and he's a Type A," Duke answered. "O's the 'universal don'ah' right? Then he won't have a problem takin' it." He finished rolling up his right sleeve to where it was now above his elbow. "I'm read'ay whenev'ah you are."

"Doc? Who's going to help you?" Roxana asked, knowing she was going to have to get Duke set up.

Doc looked at the double doors for a moment, then went back to what he was doing. "Get Rose," he answered. "If I remember right, she was a nurse before she came into the Brotherhood. She can help me."

"Are ya sure that's wise?" Duke asked as Roxana went outside the double doors to get the other female. "She _was _the one who found him aft'ah all."

"I'm sure," Doc said. He then looked up at Duke. "I think maybe you should see him though. Before you have to go into the other room."

Duke swallowed hard. He hadn't seen nor spoken to his master in the last five days since he had found out about why he had abandoned him and his mother almost eleven years ago. The teenager wasn't sure he could deal with seeing his master/father up close.

But he'd try.

So Duke gathered what was left of his courage and managed to walk over to where Roxana had been standing on Baron's left.

When he looked down at his master, his eyes widened and he felt sick.

Baron's color was almost gone and that was saying a lot considering that the guy had black feathers. His breathing was coming out in short, shallow breaths. His eyes were shut tight, looking like he was trying to keep something out. Duke could see a _sheen of sweat._

That was the main clue that indicated how bad of shape Baron was in. When ducks got hot, yes they would sweat, but it was rarely seen enough that one could see soaked feathers.

Duke was petrified now.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

The teenager watched Roxana as she wrapped a bandage around the spot where the needle had been.

Duke's blood had been collected and Doc was hooking up for a transfusion in the other room presently. The apprentice was terrified about what could happen if he was too late, or rather, if Baron was too far gone. Duke knew that his actions five days before might not have been the best thing for him to do, but he couldn't help it. The last few days, he had even been trying to think of some way to go to his master - no, father - and figure out if there was some way to reconcile with him. Problem was, Duke hadn't been able to think of a thing to say that would justify his reaction to the news that Baron had given him.

And now it might be too late.

The door opened to the examination room that Roxana and Duke had been using to take the teenager's blood, revealing Rose. "Hey Rox, Doc says he needs you," she said, taking a few steps into the room, one hand behind her back.

Before Duke could ask about what was in her hand, Roxana finished tying the bandage and got up. "Alright, I'll go help him," she answered. She looked at Duke. "Just keep the bandage wrapped there for a few hours and see if Rose here will get you a snack or soda."

With that, Roxana went out the door that led back to the emergency area Baron and Doc was in.

Before she could say anything, Duke looked back at Rose and asked, "What's behind your back?"

Rose looked uncomfortable. Then, she brought her arm out to reveal an envelope. "This was found on the table next to Baron's bed," she said timidly. "It's got your name on it, so the team cleaning…thought you should have it." She shoved it in Duke's direction, not looking at him.

Duke took the envelope and looked it over. It was sealed, meaning that no one had opened it, much less read it. The teenager took a deep breath and managed to open it.

What he read made him want to cry.

**Duke,**

**Over the years, I've tried to think of a way to tell you that I was your father. But after hearing the memories you would talk about over the time that has gone by, good or bad, I couldn't find the appropriate time or way in which to tell you. Even after you told me about that one dream you said you had about three weeks ago after you collapsed, I found myself holding back the truth.**

**Do you remember me telling you it took me until almost five years ago to gather up what courage I had to see how you and your mother were doing? I went to the first apartment building that the three of us had lived in, only to be told by current residents that because of some reasons unsaid, your mother took you and left. I finally found you about two nights before I recruited you to come join the Brotherhood. I was surprised that your mother was on drugs, considering she had been a social worker. That was the last thing I thought ever would've happened to her after I had to leave. And while I can say it only somewhat surprised me, you were stealing just to survive. But in a way, I somehow knew that you were meant to live the life of a thief, even if I hadn't come to get you.**

**Just…please know that I didn't _want _to leave you or your mother. I _had _to. I didn't want to see the only two people I cared for in this world dead because of me.**

**-Baron**

**P.S. Ever wonder about what the coin says? It's from an old Puckworld language that's just about forgotten. Translated, it means "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."**

Duke's hand lowered to rest on his lap, tears threatening to fall. "Rose? Did you…know about Baron?" he asked, wondering if anyone else knew that Baron was his father. Surely _someone _else in the guild knew something. Maybe they could explain their point of view.

Rose sighed. "I knew he had a family," she said. "I was a journey maid at the time, having come into the guild after an incident at a hospital in the capital. Baron became a friend to me, despite the fact that he was older and was a better fighter.

"He used to tell me stories about his family. At the time, his son was about four and he'd go on and on about the things that the kid did. Things that almost made his heart stop, things that made him wonder about what the kid was thinking, just…anything about him. Baron was crazy about the little hatchling."

"But then the fight between lead'ahs sta'hted," Duke said.

Rose nodded. "Yeah. When it escalated about two years later, Baron told me that he was going to leave his family so that they could be safe. To his knowledge, very few guild members knew he had a wife and child. Even said that maybe when the dust settled, he could rejoin them. But the leader at the time somehow found out Baron's plan and decided to execute him, then find his family and kill them."

Duke's eyes widened at that statement, but Rose didn't notice as she continued.

"Our current leader was actually one of Baron's teachers when he had first joined, and he didn't want Baron to die. So he won the duel, not only for Baron, but for all members of the guild whose families were being slaughtered." She smiled. "Kind of funny actually. The leader went to all the drakes who were to be executed and asked them the same question."

"…what was the question?" Duke asked, though he knew what it was.

"He went up to them all and asked 'what do you believe you've done to earn an execution'," Rose answered. "Most answered with 'nothing', but Baron was one of the few that gave an answer."

Duke thought about that for a moment. Then a question popped into his head. "You said males were bein' executed, but what about females?"

Rose looked at him oddly. "Kid, do you know one female in this whole guild that has a family? And when I say that, I mean someone beyond a lover, husband, or life-mate."

The teenager thought about it for a moment. "Actually, no," he said. "Most of the women I know are eith'ah single or have a lov'ah, but I don't know any that have kids."

"That's because it's hard to have a kid here in the guild," she answered. "Almost all the females here are on birth control so that they don't conceive. If they _do _want to start a family, the leader and/or council will help come up with a solution of how they'll start out, y'know?"

Duke scratched his head. "I guess I get it," he answered.

Rose sighed. "Short-term answer, despite all that explanation, yes, I did know about Baron's family," she said. "Even met them. His wife was beautiful. And I'd have to say that his son has grown up to be a handsome drake, but can be awfully stupid sometimes."

Duke's eyes widened. "You _knew_?" he nearly exclaimed.

The older female nearly burst out laughing. "I'm surprised you just didn't ask if I knew about you from the get-go," she said. "I met you shortly after you were hatched. When Baron brought you back here when you were twelve, I wasn't sure it was a good idea to continue raising you in the guild and train as a thief. But…" Her expression fell into a sad one. "After he told me about your mother, I figured that there was no other options; you had already started down the path of thievery, so perhaps it was better if Baron, as a Master rather than a father, took you in and train you as his apprentice."

The teenager's expression fell back into a sullen one.

Rose took this as a signal to leave. "I think I'll follow Roxana's advice and get you something to snack on," she said. "Any preference?"

When he shook his head, Rose sighed and left the room.

The teenager laid back on the bed he had been lying on while giving blood. _He'll be fine,_ Duke tried to convince himself. …_That's what I wanna say anyway. I…wish I could say he's been through worse, but…I can't. I'm too scared…I don't wanna lose Baron._

Exhausted, Duke curled up onto his right side as tears started to fall.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Hey kid, wake up."

Duke's eyes opened slowly. He felt hollowed out, like someone had scooped out a part of him. His eyes felt heavy, due to a sleep induced by crying one's self out. But the teenager sat up anyway and rubbed his eyes with his good hand.

When all the sleep had been cleared away and his vision focused, Duke's eyes widened. "Doc?" the teenager exclaimed, clearly frantic. "What's goin' on, is Baron-?"

"-alright?" Doc finished. He smiled grimly. "He'll be fine. He just needs to stay here awhile for observation." The physician's face fell grim suddenly. "And the leader of the guild wants Baron to talk to one of our psychiatrists. Though I think the leader's got a few choice words for Baron as well."

Duke let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he had been holding. "Thank Drake."

"Y'know though, if you hadn't of donated blood, who knows where he'd be."

The teenager eyed the physician oddly. "Do ya really think he would've…?"

The other nodded slowly. "Sadly, I do," he answered. "He was refusing blood kid. He _knew _he was going to die. If you hadn't of come when you did, or even offered to give anything, Baron would be six feet under the ice right now."

Duke hung his head, letting this sink in. After a few moments, he asked, "But why me? There was a whole crowd in the lobby-"

"-still is," Doc muttered, but Duke didn't catch that.

"-and they all wanted Baron to be okay. So why didn't any of them try to help?"

Doc chuckled. "Actually, most of them did when they realized Baron needed blood." Duke looked up at him, surprised, as the older physician continued. "Most of them volunteered, but Baron being Baron, he refused even the _thought _of a transfusion. That's why everyone was frantic when you arrived, they thought you could talk some sense into him, being his apprentice and one of the only ducks he actually listens to." Doc smiled. "Glad he was unconscious when you arrived though, otherwise who knows how many kinds of fits he'd have thrown."

"Where is he now?"

"Hm? Oh, he's in a private room right now. We got him in there about ten minutes ago, so I thought I should wake you."

"…can I see him?" Duke asked timidly.

Doc smiled. "Of course." He waited for Duke to get onto his feet before he led the almost seventeen year old out of the room and to wherever Baron was…

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke sat in a chair next to the bed that Baron was occupying, just watching him sleep as the younger one clutched at the coin pendant around his neck.

It was strange. Five days ago, if you had asked Duke what he had thought about Baron's confession, he would've said that Baron was crazy and he didn't want to talk to him.

All the teenager wanted now though was for his master to wake up.

Duke had been terrified when he had seen Baron earlier. He felt a little relieved now because color was starting to return to his master's face and he was breathing normally.

Now the problem was, what was Duke supposed to say to his father?

This question had actually been plaguing him since he left Baron's room that night. He had wanted to go back and speak like a civilized duck instead of a pissed off teenager like he had. But Duke couldn't find the words.

And look where Baron had ended up. He had tried his hand at suicide…and all because Duke hadn't accepted him or apologized.

The teenager looked at his master's wrapped up forearms, along with the IV that was hooked up, and tears started to prick at the corners of his eyes.

He felt horrible about it all.

But as he started to rub at his eyes with his good hand, he heard a voice that he wasn't sure he was ever going to hear again earlier in the day.

"Great Drake, am I dead? It's freakishly bright."

Duke's head snapped up to look at his master. "Baron…?"

Baron opened one eye a little bit, just enough to see that Duke was next to him. "Hey kid, can ya turn the lights down? It's really bright."

"Uh, yeah sure," Duke answered, getting up from his seat. He went over to the switches next to the door and dimmed the lights. "Bett'ah?"

"Yeah…thanks."

The teenager sighed and reclaimed his seat. "What sounds bett'ah?" he asked.

Baron looked at him, confused. "What's that mean? You haven't asked what the choices were."

"I know," Duke said. "But tell me, what sounds bett'ah, Pops-"

"Oh puck no, you are _not _calling me that," Baron said. "Makes me sound older than I already am. Why are you suddenly wanting to call me anything besides what you already do anyway?"

Duke looked uncomfortable and couldn't stop himself from looking at Baron's wrists. "It's my fault you…did what ya did," he answered. "I…I wanted to apologize days ago, but I couldn't think of what ta' say."

Baron's face fell into a deep frown. "Well, I will say this, what you said stung," he admitted. "About not telling you the truth sooner that is. But I realized that you were right. I should've said something earlier on…maybe, maybe even told you who I really was when I found you in the park that night." He sighed. "But Drake only knows what your reaction would've been. That's why I felt I couldn't tell you."

Duke thought about that for a moment. "I guess you're right," he said. "I eith'ah wouldn't have believed ya or thought that you were crazy." He thought for a second. "How come you came back for me, but didn't try to help Ma?"

Baron sighed, tearing his eyes from Duke's gaze. "When I saw you leave the apartment, I didn't follow you at first," he said. "I went in to see your mother, but…she didn't recognize me. She was far different from the woman I fell in love with. When I tried to speak to her, she just shrieked and tried to hit me over the head." He laughed a little. "Though she tried that one time when she got mad at me over something weird when she was pregnant with you."

That picture came into Duke's head and he couldn't help but smile.

Baron's face fell back into a frown. "I tried to convince her that she needed help. But she wasn't willing to get off the smack, much less leave the apartment. So…I had to say goodbye. I left her there."

The room was silent for a few minutes. Then Duke thought of something he was wondering about.

"What made ya even attempt it?"

Baron looked back at his apprentice, knowing well what the younger one meant. "Duke, I was _scared_. For three days I sat around in my room, trying to lose myself in paperwork, but I couldn't get our conversation out of my mind…or the scowl you had on your face. I kept thinking that I had royally screwed up. That…I didn't deserve to have you as either an apprentice or a son.

"So when the fourth day came around, I found myself just staring at that picture I showed you. For hours, I just looked at it, wondering what our lives would've been like if I hadn't of abandoned you and your mother…or had at least come back right after I had been set free. I kept thinking things like 'would our lives have changed?' or 'would Duke still be like me, a thief?' But no matter how many questions I asked myself, I didn't have an answer for any of them."

"Who _could _have an ans'ah to stuff like that?" Duke asked.

Baron shrugged. "A guru?" he suggested. "I dunno." He sat up on the bed, wobbling a bit in the process.

Duke stood up and tried to get his master to lie back down. "Baron, ya really shouldn't-"

"Kid, I'm fine," Baron said, waving off Duke's hand. "Knowing that you were willing to help makes me feel…better. I know I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if you hadn't of done something."

A look of surprise crossed the teenager's face. "You knew I gave blood?" he asked.

Baron smiled, closing his eyes. "Nope," he answered. "But now I do." He opened his eyes and looked at his apprentice…

…and couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face.

"What, did you really think I _did _know? I hadn't woken up until about ten minutes ago. I just guessed because you were saying the equivalent to 'I'm sorry'." Baron managed to calm down and just smile. "I know I kept refusing blood before, but…thanks Duke. If it wasn't for you, I'd be a goner."

"Ya welcome," Duke answered after a minute, his surprised look slowly going away. But then he realized something. "You didn't ans'ah my question. Not fully anyway."

Baron frowned. "In truth kid, I dunno what made me do it," he confessed. "I'm usually against suicide, but…I guess the thought just kept playing over in my head until it consumed me. One minute I was thinking about how stupid it sounded, the next…one of my throwing knives was in my hand, slashing at the other."

The two sat in silence again for awhile, neither real sure of what to say.

Finally, Duke said, "What do I call ya now?"

Baron smiled softly. "Unless you really feel compelled to give me another name, you can still call me 'Baron'," he answered. "Just because I'm your father doesn't mean I'm not your master…if you still want me to be, that is."

"Of course I do!" Duke exclaimed. "I don't care what you are, you're still my mast'ah! You've done more for me than I can ev'ah imagine." His voice suddenly went quiet. "You're…you're prob'ly one of the only ducks on Puckworld who gives a shit wheth'ah I live or die. Ma didn't and prob'ly wouldn't if I showed up on her doorstep this second. I…I know Rose cares to some extent, but…oth'ah than that…"

He sat on the bed facing Baron, feeling the all-to familiar feeling of tears wanting to fall. Baron gently put his hand on Duke's non-injured shoulder. "It's alright kid," the older master said. "Out of all the things I've taught ya, I did tell ya that it's alright to cry once in awhile. Especially if it's about something important."

And Duke did just that. He collapsed against Baron, tears pouring from his eyes.

The master was shocked for a moment, but his face softened and he carefully embraced his son. "It's alright," he said. "Everything's gonna be alright."

He continued to sooth the younger one until his sobs quieted. Then, a rather strange question was asked.

"What was my name?"

Baron appeared confused for a moment. "Hm? What do you mean?"

Duke looked up to his father. "What was my name before I entered the guild?"

Baron just smiled. "Actually, it was-"

* * *

And you shall never know what Duke's real name was!

Anyway, time for the A/N, RITE?

#1 Most of my inspiration for this chapter also came from "The Queen of the Darkness", the 3rd book in the "Black Jewels Trilogy" by Anne Bishop. You should check out her website at annebishopdotcom (remember to replace the 'dot' with a period).

#2 The 'translated phrase' I put on Duke's coin is actually from Helen Keller. And why make it in an old language almost no one knows? Easier than trying to put it in Spanish or something and my attempt at that would probably get me in trouble x_x

#3 I honestly don't know if ducks sweat; I tried to google it, but nothing was giving me a straight answer. And since they're humanoid-ducks, why wouldn't they? ^plays the 'fanfiction' card^

#4 I actually had to do alot of research on people who try to kill themselves by slitting their own wrists, but mostly what I got was stuff about emos and cutting. And I don't know anyone personally who's killed themself, so...ya.

#5 Confused by what I meant when Rose says "lover, husband, or life-mate"? Well, I figure there might be a few lesbians in the guild, and sometimes in the MD:TAS fanfic universe I see 'mate' replace the name of either spouse. So life-mate = life partner. If this offends anyone, I'm sorry. It was really all I could think of at the time


	6. Chapter 5: Prelude of Partners

HAI THAR.

Alright, I hafta admit, this is starting to get a little tedious to write. I think it's mainly because I know how parts ahead are going to go, but the here and now needs to be written, y'know? So I guess this chapter is more filler than anything. If you've read "Tales of Puckworld" or "Recovering", then you'll see what parts I'm trying to get to. It's just so friggin hard to write! And I figured I should put something out before the 4th of July

So Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

"Duke! Hey Duke!"

Said teen stopped in his tracks and turned around as he heard his name being called. Spade was running up to him, a big smile on his face, a bag in one hand. "Hey Spade," Duke greeted as the other stopped next to him. "What'cha got there?"

He let the other catch his breath before speaking. "It's something from Rose," Spade said, holding the bag out for the other to take. "I guess she thought you'd be at combat practice today, but since you weren't, she gave this to me and asked to give it to you."

"Yeah, I had physical therapy, so I couldn't come," Duke said, indicating his shoulder. "Doc's startin' to add weights, so I just gotta hope that my arm can heal up fast enough to do the partnered mission next month."

A month had passed since Baron's confession to Duke and his suicide attempt that had apparently scared half the guild. Not much had happened really since then. Like Doc said, Baron had talked to a psychiatrist after he woke up the first time, but it didn't really prove that he had been depressed or anything, especially after the leader talked to him. The leader of the guild had said (for everyone to know) that Baron was just dealing with a ton of stress at that point in time; to those on the more private circles, such as Duke, Rose, and a few others, the guild leader said that it was the weight of the confession plus whatever had happened between father and son.

But on to other things.

Duke was excited, mainly because he was turning seventeen tomorrow. But other things were going his way too; his arm was now out of the sling it had been in, his once-broken arm was only in a temporary bandage, and physical therapy was going great. Building the strength up back into his arm/shoulder proved to be a little hard, but it wasn't as bad as Duke thought it was going to be. The only real problem was that he still wasn't allowed to do combat training because of the thought of re-injuring his shoulder, possibly permanently.

"Anyway, I was just supposed to give you this before I head out," Spade said.

"Where ya goin'?" Duke asked, accepting the bag the other was offering.

"I've got the rest of the day off, so I'm going to go meet someone," Spade answered. "But I've gotta shower first though, I probably reek."

"So tha' person you're meetin'…she a lady friend?" Duke asked teased.

Spade flushed. "Shut up man!" he exclaimed.

Duke laughed. "It's alright, I'm just pickin' on ya," he said. "Have fun." Then he winked. "Give 'er a kiss for me."

"DUKE!"

The teenager just laughed again at his now-deeper-than-crimson faced friend. "Seriously, go before I get any more material to pick on ya with," he said when he finally stopped laughing.

Spade just waved as he continued down the hall, a smile on his face.

Duke snickered. Ever since the combat training incident, he and Spade had actually become good friends, and Duke found it pretty easy to tease the younger duck from time to time.

He looked at the bag that Spade had given him. _Guess I'll see what's in it when I get to Baron's room,_ he thought, starting to walk again.

Since Baron had attempted suicide the month before, Duke had been visiting him everyday, making sure that everything was okay. It seemed though that the rift that had happened between the two was healed, once Baron had told his apprentice the whole story of what had happened almost eleven years before. It had also given Duke a chance to research into the Brotherhood's past, since history lessons were not a kind of class that was taught to the recruits; though there was a library that held volumes upon volumes of the Brotherhood of the Blade for those who were interested in it.

When he reached his master's room, Duke knocked on the door. "Baron? Ya in there?" he asked.

"Come in."

Duke opened the door and walked in, kicking off his shoes after crossing the threshold. He looked around the room to see where his master was.

However, when he saw his master sitting at the kitchen table, the teenager felt like his heart had stopped.

"Baron?"

Said master just looked back at him, looking somewhat confused. "What?" he asked. "I was just about to cut my hair. I couldn't find my scissors, so I had to use this."

Duke let out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that."

Baron had a knife up to the back of his head, about at the base of his ponytail. It had scared Duke when he first saw that because he had been afraid of random things Baron did ever since his master said that he had used one of his throwing knives to slash his own wrists.

Duke shut the door and walked over to the table, bag still in hand. "Why don'tcha let me do that for ya?" he asked. Placing the bag down, he sighed. "I'm sure it's bett'ah if I do it than you since ya don't even have a mirr'ah."

Baron smiled. "Go ahead," he said. "Like I said, I dunno where my scissors are-"

"Found 'em."

The master turned to see that Duke had dug through a few drawers of his desk and had found the "lost" pair of scissors. A surprised look came about his face. "I've been looking for those for a week," he said, his apprentice closing the drawers he'd been looking through. Then Baron smiled. "For some odd reason, it makes me think of when you were a hatchling and used to crawl out of your crib all the time."

"I did?" Duke asked, coming up behind Baron's chair.

The master smiled as he turned around to face the other direction. "I used to wake up in the middle of the night to find you sleeping on me, whether I was sleeping on my back or my stomach," he said, as he felt Duke bring the scissors to where he had them before. "I always used to wonder if you'd be a ninja or something someday because neither your mother or I could figure out how you got out so many times in a week. You had stealth, even back then."

Duke smiled a little as he began to cut Baron's hair. "Why the sudden change in style?" the teen asked as he cut. "I don't think I've ev'ah seen you with short hair."

Baron shrugged. "Guess I just want a change of pace," he said. He noticed the bag that Duke had put on the table. "What's that?"

"Somethin' from Rose," Duke said, cutting off another lock. "Spade gave it to me on my way he'ah. Said that she wanted to give it to me durin' combat practice, but since I was in physical therapy, I couldn't go."

"Bet it's a Hatching Day present," Baron said. "Have you opened it yet?"

"Not yet. I was plannin' to when I got he'ah."

"Then why don'tcha open it?" Baron asked. "Then you can open up mine."

"You got me a present?" Duke asked. "But my Hatching Day's not even until tomorr'ah."

His master smiled. "Doesn't mean I can't give you part of my present to you today," he answered. "And of course I'd get you something. Haven't I every year since you came into the Brotherhood, even before you knew who I was?"

Duke thought for a moment as he finished up cutting Baron's hair.

He remembered the first year in the Brotherhood when he turned thirteen; when he had woken up the morning of his Hatching Day and found a cupcake with a lit candle on his nightstand. Every year after that, he'd find something sweet with a lit candle stuck in it and a card that said "Happy Hatching Day from Baron" next to it. Duke had never asked how Baron knew what day it was on, but now he didn't really need to ask.

But there was something he was wondering about.

"Hey Baron."

"What's up?"

Duke put the scissors down on the table and began brushing hair off his master's shoulders. "When's your Hatching Day?" he asked.

"Next month actually," Baron said. "Your mother used to make jokes about how mine was right after yours."

"No wond'ah you've got so much gray hair," Duke teased.

"Not my fault," Baron protested. "You've done half the damage. Between what you used to do as a duckling, plus the injuries you've gotten and stunts you've pulled while here in the Brotherhood, I'm surprised my hair's not all white." He ran a hand over his hair. "How's it look anyway?"

Duke went over to the desk and brought back an antique hand mirror. "Looks fine to me," he said. "Why do you have this thing again? Kinda girly, don'tcha think?"

Baron inspected Duke's work as he answered. "This was one of the first things I stole from an exhibit when I was eighteen. After I got it and whatever else I pulled in from that heist, the council said I could keep something. I picked this since I didn't have a mirror and nothing else interested me. Anyway, it's said to belong to Drake DuCaine's mother, but I somehow kinda doubt that."

"Why's that?"

Baron smiled at himself in the mirror, then put it down. "Think about it for a second," he said, turning to Duke. "DuCaine was said to live centuries ago, but no one even knows for sure, though I think it's possible. There's no solid proof that there was or currently is a DuCaine line. If this mirror _was _actually Lady DuCaine's, then wouldn't the glass of the mirror have turned to dust already? Or at least, some legends of her and/or his family?"

Duke thought for a second. "I guess so," he said slowly. "But it could've been preserved really well. Like that ship that sank, rememb'ah? It was und'ah wat'ah for almost two hundred yea'ahs before the treasu'ahs were taken out, and a lot of it was perfectly preserved." Then he thought for another second. "Wait, what made 'em think it was a DuCaine item anyway?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Baron said. He picked up the mirror again and handed it to Duke. "Inspect it and tell me what you see that might make others think that."

The teenager looked the mirror over, seeing nothing of particular interest…until he looked at a small symbol on the back. "Wait, this symbol-"

"-looks familiar?"

Duke looked at his master. "Yeah actually," he said. "It looks like the mask that's on that Drake DuCaine statue in the capital."

"Yup. That's the clue that the historians have, but I don't really believe it," Baron said. He looked back at the bag, then to Duke. "Why don'tcha open up what Rose gave you? I bet it'll be something good."

So Duke put the mirror back on the table and went to the bag. "I wond'ah what it is," he thought aloud, pulling a box from the bag. Confused, the teenager opened the box and found himself surprised.

In it was a small cake, white in color with maroon and deep purple roses on it. It looked big enough for maybe two or three ducks to share. It said "Happy 17th from Rose" on it.

Baron looked at his apprentice. "So what is it?" he asked.

Duke shoved the box over to him. "Any reason she'd give me a cake?" he asked. Then, a thought popped into his head from something Rose had told him:

"…_I did know about Baron's family," she said. "Even met them. His wife was beautiful. And I'd have to say that his son has grown up to be a handsome drake, but can be awfully stupid sometimes."_

_Duke's eyes widened. "You _**knew**_?" he nearly exclaimed._

_The older female nearly burst out laughing. "I'm surprised you just didn't ask if I knew about you from the get-go," she said. "I met you shortly after you were hatched…" _

"Hey Baron?"

"What is it kid?" he asked, still inspecting the cake.

"Rose told me that she met me shortly aft'ah I was hatched," Duke said. "Is that true?"

"Well, yeah," Baron said, looking up at the teenager. "You know she was a nurse before she came into the guild, right?"

"What's that gotta do with anythin'?"

"Plenty," the older drake said, sitting back. "You were hatched in the capital, at the same hospital that Rose used to work at, though that's not what her name was then, nor did I know her or ever thought I'd meet her again. She came in about half an hour after you decided to make an entrance-"

"Huh?"

"After you hatched."

"Oh." Why was that not obvious?

"Anyway, she came into the Unit for the night shift," Baron continued. "She was surprised to see a hatchling with gray feathers, so she was marveling over that fact as I stood there. That's when I learned from her that gray plumage is actually extremely rare. I just figured you turned out the way you are because I've got black feathers while your mother had white. I didn't know it was rare until Rose told me."

"So…I'm a rarity in itself?" Duke asked.

"Yup, pretty much," Baron told him. "Perhaps another sign you were meant to be a thief; you've got an incredibly rare thing going for ya."

Duke shrugged. "Whateva'," he simply said. "So what's this thing you keep tellin' me about that's supposed to be half a present?"

Baron smiled. "Thought you'd never ask." He got up from his seat and headed for the closet. He opened the doors and pulled a box off a shelf. "This is something I consider to be especially special," the older drake said, coming back towards the table. "Open it and I'll tell you why."

After he put the box down, Duke lifted the lid. He was a tad confused and shocked at what he saw. "Baron, this is-"

"A set of hunting tools," his master answered. "Actually, it was what I took on my first mission with my partner when I was seventeen." He smiled as he watched Duke look through the utility belt's pockets. "It's yours now."

Duke looked at him, shocked. "What? I can't take something like this!"

"Why not?"

"It's yours from your first mission, I can't take that," Duke said.

Baron just smiled. "Since you came into the Brotherhood, I've wanted you to have this," he said. "I knew the day would come when you would be on your partnered mission, so I saved this for your seventeenth Hatching Day."

Duke looked back down at the belt, which was still full of different tools, like lock-picks, a few different knives, etc. "Ya sure ya really wanna give me this?" he asked.

Baron put a hand on Duke's shoulder. "Of course I'm sure," he said. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't have given it to you. Think of it as a 'passing the torch' sort of deal, father to son, master to apprentice."

Duke looked back his father, then at the utility belt and smiled. "Thanks Pops," he said.

Baron smiled. "You can thank me after your mission next month," he said, as he watched his son try on the belt. "That's when this will come in handy."

"Do you know who my partn'ah's gonna be?" Duke asked as he adjusted the belt to fit.

The older drake crossed his arms. "Actually, I find out the day of the heist," he said. "So essentially, I won't know until you do."

The teenager just smiled. _I can't wait until then. I'm sure I'll get an awesome partn'ah. _

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"…Falcone's with who now?"

"I swear! I heard about it from my master!"

These were the pieces of conversation that Duke picked up on as he was turning the corner to go down the main hallway that led to every place of the Brotherhood's hideout. As he came around, he saw a few of the ducks from his age group, as well as a few from the younger one, gathered together as they talked about something.

"No way, I bet you heard wrong!" one duck said.

"Actually, I think I heard that too," another said. "I overheard a conversation that Rose and Ace were having the other day, and they were talking about who was going to be Falcone's partner next week."

"Who's Falcone?"

The entire group looked at Duke as if he were crazy. Spade emerged from the group, staring at his friend as well. "Are you kidding me? You've never heard of Falcone?" he asked.

"Should I?" Duke asked, thoroughly confused.

"Of course you should!" a female member he didn't recognize exclaimed. "He's Ace's apprentice, and since Ace and Baron are just about always at each other's throats-"

"Just 'cuz my mast'ah and anoth'ah one compete, doesn't mean I know everythin'," Duke pointed out. "Besides, whenever I do see Ace, he nev'ah talks about his apprentice."

"You've been missing out then," one of the older ones said. "Wanna know about Falcone? 'Cuz we can tell ya anything you wanna know."

Duke shrugged. "Why not?" he said. "S'not like I've got any place special ta' be right now."

"All right, listen up," the same member said. "Falcone's from a neighboring planet where at least half the population is made up of falcons. He came here sometime when he was a kid and was abandoned shortly after. No one's real sure how he found the Brotherhood to begin with, but he joined when he was thirteen. The only problem though was that he failed the Changing of the Ranks ceremony. _Twice_."

Duke's eyes widened. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me," he said. It wasn't necessarily unheard of for an apprentice to fail a Changing of the Ranks once, but twice?

"Ya, he actually didn't pass until the year you did," another older student said. "He's in your age rank, though I guess you guys were in different sects since you've never heard of Falcone."

"Anyway," another female interjected. "Falcone's got a temper and is quick to rush. That's why he couldn't pass before, and frankly, I'm still not sure why he was allowed to join the next rank. He stinks at hand-to-hand combat, nor is he that great when fencing-"

"Then why's he he'ah?" asked Duke.

The female shrugged. "Like we said, no one's real sure how he got in," she continued. "Ace keeps saying that he does have some good qualities, but frankly, none of us know what they are."

Duke pondered this for a moment. "So basically, he's pretty bad," he said.

"Well, that's what's being said," Spade said. "But no one's real sure what the good qualities are, so we can't be positive."

"So who's his part'nah gonna be?" Duke asked, becoming curious.

"The rumor goes is that-"

"Hey you kids!"

The group looked over to see another Master walking up. "Aren't you all supposed to be doing something right now?" he asked as he came to the group, a smile on his face. "Or is the excitement of next week getting to all of you?"

"Sorry Master Dios," one of the older students said, bowing slightly. "We were just going."

Dios watched as the group dispatched and went their separate ways…except for Duke that is. The much older drake looked at the teenager. "Nowhere you need to be right now?" he asked.

The teenager looked from where the group had been standing a moment ago to the older drake. He had never met this one, so he wasn't sure who he was. The only real thing he could tell by this drake's appearance was that he had been in the guild a _long _time. He stood a good foot over Duke, had ivory-looking feathers that almost looked like they blended with his tied back white hair, and most noticeably, an eye patch over his left eye with a red dot on it.

"So?" Dios asked. "Anywhere you need to be?"

Duke realized he had just been gawking at him for the last minute or so. "Uh, no sir not really," he quickly said. "I was just goin' to see my mast'ah is all."

"Well you should know, Baron's not in his quarters."

"I know," Duke said. "I was supposed to talk to him over lunch-"

"He's not in the Dining Hall either," the older drake said. "I was actually lookin' for ya to tell you that he's in the Infirmary."

"What? Why's he in the'ah?"

Dios chuckled a little bit. "It's alright kid, he's there because he wasn't feeling well at the Master's Meeting this morning," he said. "He's just getting checked out. I'm sure he'd like it if you were there though."

"Thank you for tellin' me," Duke said, bowing slightly like the older student had earlier. Then he realized something. "How'd ya know that I was Baron's apprentice?"

"You look just like him," Dios said cryptically, smiling.

Duke looked at him oddly before he left in the direction of the Infirmary. Dios watched as the younger one ran off, laughing to himself. _Poor kid. Baron probably never told him what his master looked like. Guess this was a bit of a shock to him to see the master of his master without knowing who it really was._

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Baron was feeling _terrible_.

He didn't think it had been such a big deal when he woke up that morning, but as it got closer to the Master's Meeting that was held today, he had actually considered skipping it and just going back to bed. But Baron, being a stubborn drake, toughed the meeting out. Only he had felt worse afterwards and decided that the Infirmary would be best instead of slinking off to his room. And it was closer.

But one moment, Baron was on his way to the Infirmary to see Doc, the next he was _in _the Infirmary with Roxana checking him over. Baron guessed that he had collapsed somewhere in the middle of his journey since he had woken up on one of their beds. He had no idea who had taken him there, since whoever it had been had left long before he had woken up.

So Baron just lay there as Roxana looked him over. Doc had yet to come out from wherever he was, so the drake just had to wait.

_Duke's probably looking all over for me by now,_ he thought. _We were supposed to talk over lunch about his mission next week-_

"Where's Baron?"

Said drake and Roxana looked up when they heard his name from outside the room. "Looks like Duke found you," Roxana said, going to the door of the examination room they were in. She opened it, motioning for Duke to come in. The teenager walked in and immediately made his way over to his master's side.

"What happened?" Duke asked, sounding a little frantic.

Baron managed to sit up a bit as he answered. " 'M not feelin' that great iz all. I wuz on m'way here…when I guess I passed out."

Duke looked back at Roxana. "It looks like a case of pneumonia," she told him. "But Doc's gotta check him over and see what he'll need. I was actually about to go get him, so will you stay Duke?"

" 'Course I will."

Roxana smiled and left the room.

The teenager looked back at his master, who was starting to lay back down. "What's wrong Baron?" he asked, coming over to his father's side. "You look like someone took tha' puck to ya a few times ov'ah."

"Like Roxana said, seems I got sick," Baron answered. "I blame-"

He would have finished his sentence if a coughing fit had not broken out at that moment. The older drake threw the blanket of the medical bed over his head as he coughed. After a moment, the fit left him in peace and Duke could hear his master's muffled voice from under the blanket. "I t'ink ya gotta s-s-stay 'way from me for 'while," Baron said. "I don't want ya…gettin' s-sick when your partnered mission…is comin' up."

Duke just looked at the hidden-under-the-blanket master. He could see from the blanket's outline that the older drake was shivering and just from hearing him trying to speak, Duke could tell that Baron was having a little trouble breathing.

"I don't think I'll be leavin' yet," Duke said, grabbing a chair, pulling it to the side of the bed and taking a seat. "You've stayed with me whenev'ah I got sick or hurt, so why shouldn't I?"

" 'Cuz this izn't just a cold…or duck-pox," Baron protested, poking his head out from underneath the blanket. He looked at his apprentice, but as he tried to glare, Duke couldn't help but smile and laugh mentally. Baron was never a happy camper when it came to being sick and (though he'd hardly ever been sick since Duke had joined the guild) he could be a terrible patient when he was down with something.

"It's 'uckin' pneumonia…an' I don't want you to get it," Baron continued.

"Still not a good 'nuff reason," Duke said. " 'Sides, I thought we were gonna talk 'bout my mission next week."

Baron groaned. "Do we haf'ta?" he asked. " 'M sick."

Duke just laughed. "Haven't we had this talk before when I got sick and you made me discuss stuff?" he asked. Then he sobered up. "I got somethin' I wanna ask anyway."

Baron sat up slowly, a look of curiosity in his eye. "What iz it?"

"I…I heard that Ace's apprentice Falcone has a partn'ah already lined up," Duke started. "I was headin' to tha' Dinin' Hall when I overheard a group talkin' 'bout who Falcone's gonna be paired with. One of 'em said they heard Rose and Ace talkin' 'bout it…so I was just wonderin' if you knew anythin'."

"All I know 'bout your mission iz that you're goin' to a museum," Baron managed to say before he sneezed. He rubbed his eyes as he continued. "Masters usually don't know 'bout who tha' partner is until the day comes. If Rose _does _know, then you should talk to her."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES!

#1 - I've actually had pneumonia, and it SUCKS. But I still had to research other forms of it since the one I had was caused by an allergic reaction

#2 - If you can't tell, Duke's accent is getting harder and harder to write. I'm trying, but it's hard

#3 - In "To Catch a Duck", Duke's wearing his set of "hunting tools" and it looks like he's got a can of hair spray or pepper spray on the back. Any ideas as to what it really is? o_O

#4 - I figured Spade should come back, since odd incidents are shown as ways people have made friends. And since Duke never says anything about it in the series, why not?

#5 - Anyone get the "ship underwater" reference?


	7. Chapter 6: Eve of the Heist

HAI.

Well, it took awhile to get this chapter out, mainly because I didn't know where I wanted to end it. But I've got it worked out now! Anyway, I have a question; WTF is a Raptrin? When I saw Falcone's wikipedia profile the first time, it didn't say anything, but now it says "he's the only Raptrin on the show". And no dictionary can tell me, and I've googled the word too, but it just shows his name =/ Or something to that effect.

Anyway, AN's will be at the bottom again. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich.

* * *

Duke messed with the coin pendant around his neck, something he realized he was doing a lot recently.

He had talked to Rose after Baron recommended to do so after visiting the bed-ridden thief nearly a week ago. The teenager wanted to know if the rumors about Falcone that Duke had heard about were true or not…and the partner thing.

Well, the rumors about Falcone's skills were at least right. Or so Rose had informed him. Since Falcone was technically in another sect of Duke's age group, she wasn't supposed to give the teenager confidential information. But she did say "as a thief, I'll give you a professional opinion of his skills. As a friend, I'll tell you what to watch out for."

And that alone indicated that Duke was going to be stuck with Falcone as his partner. Which he was _not _happy about.

The partnered mission was going to take place tomorrow night and Duke felt that something was going to go wrong. All because of the rumors and facts that he had heard about Falcone.

So to try and put his mind at ease, he had tried to read. When that didn't help, he tried to draw (he was an artist in more ways than that of the thief). When _that _failed, the teen began to pace around in circles in his room, clearly nervous.

Finally, he decided that he'd go see Baron, who Doc had isolated in the Infirmary for the last week so that he wouldn't spread the pneumonia he'd gotten.

So that being decided, the teen stopped pacing and headed out of his quarters.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Baron? Can we talk?"

The older drake looked up from his book when he heard his son's voice. He had heard the door to his room in the Infirmary open and close, but hadn't looked up until Duke spoke. Curious as to how he managed to get past Doc (who was still forbidding entrance to most guild members,) Baron just said, "Sure. What's on your mind?"

Duke pulled a chair over to his master's bedside as Baron marked the page and put the book on the table next to him. The teen sat and sighed. "It's about tomorr'ah night," he said. "I talked to Rose about Falcone, and it seems all the rum'ahs are true."

Baron cleared his throat. "I coulda told ya that," he said. "He's a terrible trainee-"

"No, not those rum'ahs," Duke said. "I knew those were true. The oth'ah ones are what I'm talkin' about."

The other drake looked at his apprentice, a confused look on his face. "What other rumors?" he asked.

Duke was silent, averting his gaze to the floor.

"Kid?"

"…I'm scared Pops."

Baron just watched the expression on the other's face, knowing that this wasn't going to be a conversation between master and apprentice, or even two thieves. It was a son confessing to his father about something that he felt should be kept secret. "What are you scared of Duke?" he asked softly, straightening up in bed a little.

A feeling of shame filled the teenager as he began to speak. "I've seen Ace. I know from what you've said and what I've seen from Ace that Falcone's prob'ly gonna be…well, somethin'." He paused. "I mean, Ace has done a lot of…things…that everyone knows about, then there's the stuff he doesn't admit to. I can only imagine what he's done to Falcone."

Baron sighed. He could relate to this; some Masters in the guild were not kind to their students at all. Some of those teachers had been found out while others were never truly exposed for their deeds. Since Duke was the only apprentice Baron had ever had, he treated him like a thief-in-training as he taught him over the years, never letting the fact that this particular one was also his son.

But despite that fact, or perhaps because of it, Baron tried to balance the harshness of a teacher with the kindness that others of their race said would get him in trouble one day.

"You are right about Ace," Baron finally said after a few moments of silence. "There's even one thing that not many people in this guild know."

Duke looked back up. "What's that?"

"He's mentally unstable when it comes to training a student. He even drove one to suicide when I was still a journeyman."

All the teenager could do was stare at Baron. "…what?"

"Two years after the duel between the former leader of the guild and the current one, Ace chose to take on the Master title," Baron started. "About six months after that, the council ordered that he take on a student, thinking that it would be a good for him since he hadn't ever really been able to…interact…well with others.

"The student that the council picked for Ace was about fourteen. The poor kid hadn't had anyone to teach him on a personal level before, so he thought it would be a great honor to have a Master teach him, especially if the council had picked him out to be the student. So he gladly did anything to get Ace's approval…in the beginning anyway."

"What does that mean?" Duke asked.

"After the Changing of the Ranks ceremony a year later, Ace's apprentice could see that he would never make Ace a happy camper," Baron explained. "No matter how well a job the kid did on a simulation, during training sessions, or one-on-one practice with his master, Ace just criticized the poor kid. He could've done something perfectly and Ace would still have harsh words for him."

"And you saw all this?" Duke asked, becoming incredibly curious.

The older drake sighed. "Most of it," he confessed. "One of my jobs as a journeyman was to oversee the simulations that recruits ran to see how well they did. I gave my criticism only to those who I thought needed it. But it seemed that even my words of encouragement for Ace's apprentice at the time were of no help."

A few moments of silence passed as Duke let this information sink into his thoughts. "…what happened to him?" the teenager finally asked.

"About halfway through his first year in the next sect up, something - and to this day, no one really knows what - happened between the kid and Ace. All I know is that the next day, one of the Masters who got worried about the kid for not showing up to training went to check up on him and…"

"…and what?"

"…found the kid hanging from the ceiling."

Duke's eyes widened. "He hung himself?" he asked.

"Yeah," Baron answered, panting a little. "He was barely sixteen. But no one knows why he did it, though Ace was the last one that the kid had seen before he was found. When Ace was investigated, he merely answered that he was 'having a chat with his apprentice' before the incident happened."

Duke just let all of this sink in. "I…I don't believe it," he just said after a moment. "How is it that he was able to have anoth'ah apprentice after that happened?"

"Because Ace found Falcone," Baron answered. "When Ace found him at thirteen, he invited Falcone to the guild and the other accepted." The older drake paused, allowing himself to catch his breath. "See, when a Master recruits someone from the outside, it's like they decide on their own to take that recruit as their apprentice, no matter what. So essentially, Ace saw something in Falcone that he wanted…what it is, to this day I still don't know."

Duke just sat there and thought about these words as Baron tried to catch his breath. After a moment, the teen realized that the older drake was having a bit of trouble breathing. "Are ya alright Baron?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

Baron smiled a little, putting a hand on his chest. "I'm…okay," he answered after a minute or so. "This is just the first…time after almost a week of…no talking that I've done so much of it."

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke was nervous.

In an hour, he was going to be at the museum where he and Falcone would be doing their assignment. The teen still didn't know what it was that they were to be stealing, but he'd be finding out in a short while.

He looked himself over in the mirror, making sure he had everything he was going to need (even though the Masters in charge of the distributing of mission details would also be checking over their equipment).

He wore a special outfit that Baron had given him, saying that it was the other half of his Hatching Day present, though he had gotten it a week later. It was a very dark violet (or what Baron had said 'almost wine-colored'), form-fitting outfit that was meant to help with camouflage; around his waist was the belt that was given to him with every tool that Baron said had helped him out when he had his first mission. On his right wrist, a grappling hook was in place. And of course, the outfit wouldn't be complete without a pair of form-fitting black gloves. Baron had taught him that a vital key to stealing was covering up one's tracks and that included any oily residue from one's fingers. So the older drake had taught him that wearing gloves was fundamental in the art of thievery.

And of course, the last item that the teenage drake never took off, his coin pendant. He looked at it, thinking about the translation of the phrase that was imprinted upon it's surface; "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

He hoped that tonight the coin would bring him luck and give him a confidence boost. And considering what the coin said, he hoped that it would be an adventure.

Looking at himself one last time in the mirror, and getting some sense of dread about the evening ahead of him, Duke tucked the pendant under his outfit and made sure he had everything before walking out the door of his room.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

Duke leaned against the wall as one of the Masters in charge of the missions checked over the gear in his belt. When he had arrived at the place where the partners were being given their mission details and whatnot, Duke had almost immediately been pounced on and the Masters began their own check of the teen's equipment.

That had been almost half an hour ago.

So he just waited as they were finishing up the inspection. He hadn't seen Falcone or Ace, so he wasn't sure where they were. Perhaps a pre-theft pep talk?

"Looks like you could use someone to talk to."

Duke looked up to see Baron standing next to him, in normal clothes. Not the usual cat suit that he usually wore, but _normal street clothes_. This was truly an oddity to see Baron in anything but the usual outfit, since it both established his role as a Master and allowed him to move easier while teaching the few classes he taught. But there he was, in faded black pants, a white t-shirt, and a long sleeve black shirt that he had kept unbuttoned.

"What'cha doin' down he'ah Baron?" Duke asked, concerned for his father's well-being. "You're s'posed to be in tha' Infirmary! Wait a sec, how'd you get past Doc, Roxana, or anyone else down the'ah?"

The older drake laughed a bit. "I simply told Doc that I wanted to see you off," he answered. "I'm supposed to get out in the morning anyway, so he said that it was alright, as long as I went back right after and straight to bed when I got back."

"Oh…okay," Duke just said. "As long as Doc's okay with it."

Baron smiled, then frowned when he noticed the look on his son's face. "What's the matter kid?" he asked. "Are you nervous?"

"It's just…I gotta bad feelin' Baron," Duke said quietly. "That somethin's gonna go south and everythin's gonna change."

The older drake sighed, a small smile coming to his face. "It's just nerves," he reassured the younger one. "Everything's going to go fine. Do you remember what your mission is?"

"Yeah, Falcone and I are hittin' the Museum of National DuCaine History," Duke said. "But they haven't said what we're stealin' yet." He shuffled his feet a little, looking down at the floor. "And that makes me feel…off. Like I should know already, but they won't tell us 'til they're done inspectin' our ge'ah."

"That's how the distribution is done though, so no worries," Baron assured him. He placed a hand on top of his apprentice's head and ruffled his hair.

The teenager stood up straight and waved Baron's hand away. "Hey, quit it!" he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"That's what I wanna see," Baron said. "An upbeat attitude. Just go and do your best tonight."

Duke looked up at his father. "…I'll try ta' make ya proud Baron."

The older master just smiled and shook his head. "You made me proud the moment I laid eyes on you as a hatchling," he said boldly. "Nothing will ever change that fact Duke."

Duke smiled, then it vanished when he noticed the master who had taken his gear earlier out of the corner of his eye coming over to him. He turned to face the other. "So is my ge'ah alright ta' use?" the teenage drake asked as the older one handed him his belt back.

"Seems everything's in order," was his answer as Duke put the belt back on. The other ran a hand through his blue-streaked hair. "Just make sure your partner does okay. We looked at his stuff and while we didn't find anything, we're still a little wary."

"I'm sure everything will be fine Sapphire," Baron told the other Master. "Don't wanna scare off the kids now do ya?"

Sapphire smiled. "True, we wouldn't want to do that," he replied. He then held up what looked like a fencing saber. "You might wanna take this with ya tonight. Since this _is _the Brotherhood of the Blade, you get this, though it's not sharp. But it'll help you fight against anyone or anything you might encounter."

Duke took the fencing saber and attached it to his belt. "I hope I don't need it, but thanks," the teenager said. He looked up at Sapphire. "So do we get to find out what we're goin' aft'ah?"

Sapphire smiled. "Thought you'd never ask," he said. "Just come find me whenever Baron's done with ya and I'll brief you and Falcone." With that he left.

The teenage drake turned to his master. "I guess this is it," he said, a small smile on his face.

Baron smiled in return, but surprised Duke when he pulled him over to hug him. "It is," he said. "Just remember that whether tonight goes well or not, whether you pass with flying colors or fail by just a tiny bit, nothing will change my opinion of you."

"Oh, but if I fail by a lot then it'll change everything," Duke joked.

Baron laughed and let go of his son. "Yup, it'll change everything! I might even exile you to the deepest, darkest regions of the planet," he said.

They both laughed over the bit of banter. Then Duke looked over to where Sapphire was standing across the room and sighed. "Guess I gotta go now." He looked to his father. "I'll remember everythin' you've told or taught me up to this point."

Baron grinned. "I'm sure you will. Now get going or you'll never get to the Museum."

He watched as his son looked at him, then turned around and left.

Then Baron frowned.

_I didn't want to admit it, but I've got a bad feeling about this too. Maybe because he's paired with Falcone?_ Baron shook his head and turned to head back to the Infirmary. _Maybe it's just because Ace and I have been fighting ever since we first met that I've got this feeling about his apprentice…but still, I hope Duke will be alright…_

* * *

Alright, time for Author Notes!

1) Seriously, WTF is a Raptrin? When I first saw that word, I thought it meant it was someone who wasn't a Saurian who would betray the duck race, but Lucretia apparently doesn't fall under this. So...what is it?

2) Because I wanted to have the heist in it's own seperate thing (and it'll be alot of detail I believe), you can all look forward to the excitement...next chapter xD

3) I looked up what thieves would probably wear and apparently, it's a catsuit. I tried looking up bodysuits for men...they scared me o_o The first images that came up on google were pink and light blue leotards, and all others were just...well, leotards. And since most people think 'one piece' when they hear catsuit, I figured I might as well keep that.

4) The outfit that Duke wears here was kinda the origin (for the purpose of this story) of what he wears in the series. I think I even made him say "it's not maroon, it's wine-colored. Makes me fashionable" or something like that in one of my stories. I figured his dad would be the one to get him hooked on the 'wine-colored' suit xD


	8. AUTHOR'S NEWS

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

HI THAR.

It's me, Revolutionary Venom.

I know it's been a bit, but with alot of things up right now, such as college, or rather real life in general, the next chapter might be a little bit longer in getting out. I SWEAR TO ALL THINGS HOLY that I have about half the chapter (or so) written, but I need to finish it (of course), but it might take some time due to getting used to college life again. That and I'm going to re-enlist myself into my usual college theater play.

So please be patient with me and this story. I promise it'll be worth the wait...I hope

~Revolutionary Venom


	9. Chapter 7: Smell of Something Deceitful

I'M NOT DEAD.

^ahem^ That out of the way, here's another chapter of Duke's origin. I wanted this to be longer, but I'm having a bit of a dry spell in creative writing. So you're just gonna have to deal with what I did manage to get out. Sorry it's not longer

Disclaimer: I don't own MD:TAS. If I did, I'd be rich

* * *

"Tell me again why we're just standing here?"

Duke rolled his eyes. "See that ov'ah the'ah?" he asked, pointing from their position in the bushes to an air duct on the side of the museum. "We gotta sneak in through that. And since the guards that do the'ah rounds are almost done with this set, we wait until they're finished to get in so we don't get caught."

He lowered his arm and went back to studying the museum map layout that had been given to the duo before they had left. Thus far, they had been sitting there half an hour and Falcone was proving to be _annoying_. He looked like he was ready to just pounce on a guard and tie 'em up, but Duke had been told by Sapphire that (if they could) the two thieves-in-training were to avoid contact with any personnel and to only use force if absolutely necessary.

So when they had arrived, Duke had scanned the outside and figured out that the guards were on a trade off system…and Falcone had done next to nothing to help.

And he was still being useless by acting like an impatient hatchling.

"Just wait another few minutes," Duke continued. "They should be done in a coupla' minutes, so we can sneak in then."

"Fine, fine," Falcone said, obviously bored. He leaned back against a nearby tree and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we finally _do _go in."

Duke frowned in annoyance. _Great Mother of Ducks, WHY did I hafta get stuck with Falcone? Wasn't there SOMEONE that was a bett'ah match for me as a partn'ah than HIM?_

But Duke continued to do his work, despite how annoyed he was. He rolled up the small map and tucked it into one of the pouches on his belt, turning his head in the direction of where the guards had been a moment ago.

_It might be best just ta' go now,_ the gray teen thought._ If my obs'ahvations have been right, then we won't see the guards for at least anoth'ah twenty minutes or so._

"Get your butt up, we're goin' in," Duke told Falcone, standing from his spot.

The other yawned and stood up. "Finally," he said. "It's so boring out here."

Remaining in the shadows, the duo carefully made their way over to the air duct. Once they were in front of it, Duke took a miniature screwdriver out of one of the belt's pockets and began to loosen the screws in each corner of the vent.

It took a few minutes, but the gray drake managed to quietly remove the two main screws that held the vent in place and remove the metal so that they could enter. "Alright, go first so I can put this thing back on after we go in," Duke said.

"No, _you _go in first," Falcone said. "I can put a vent back in its place."

Duke scowled. "Ya sure ya can even do that?" he asked.

"Of course I can! I learned from the best."

_Sure ya did. That's why everyone thinks you're a terrible thief and we 'aven't even gotten halfway through this mission yet,_ Duke thought. But since this was _supposed _to be a partnered heist, he had to let Falcone do _something_. "Fine, I'll go first," the gray drake agreed.

Pulling himself up using the duct, Duke managed to make himself fit. _Maybe malnutrition _was _a good thing for me,_ the teenager thought as he began to crawl through the duct, hearing his partner coming in behind him. _If I were any bigger, I prob'ly wouldn't be able ta' fit in he'ah. _

Then a thought occurred to him. _Can Falcone fit through he'ah? He's bigg'ah in body frame than I am._ He mentally slapped himself. _Great Mother of Ducks, why the puck didn't I think of that BEFORE comin' in?_

Duke looked over his shoulder (as best as he could in the small duct anyway,) trying to see if he could get his partner's attention. "Ya doin' alright back th'ah Falcone?" he asked.

The teen was only slightly surprised when he didn't get an answer.

_Eith'ah he didn't follow me in or he's goin' slow'ah because of his size, _Duke concluded, turning to face forward and ramble onwards towards the area the two were meant to go to. _Wait_, _he was behind me when I came in. Did he get lost somewhe'ah along the way?_

_...Oh well. He knows whe'ah we're _supposed _to end up, so it should be alright._

So Duke continued through the vent, trying to find his way to the place where he and Falcone were supposed to find their artifact. Supposedly, there was a new display in the museum, but despite that, the security was still lax. Or perhaps the majority of it had been moved to the main exhibit, Duke wasn't sure which. He himself had never been to the Museum of National DuCaine History, but it should prove to be interesting. Heck, he was even getting a souvenir.

Finally, Duke found a vent that he managed to pry open that led to the room that he and Falcone were supposed to be in. After removing the metal object and placing it next to him in the vent, the skinny teen managed to quickly (and quietly) jump down from where he was to the floor. He surveyed the area, noting that his partner hadn't gotten there before him. So _that _meant that either Falcone actually had gotten lost in the vent system or had taken another way in and it had only sounded like he had followed Duke in.

_So what do I do now, just wait for him?_ Duke pondered. _…well, no guards are he'ah, and this place has got plenty'a places to hide in case I need to. _

So Duke sat on a nearby bench and began to wait.

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"Sorry boys, Royal Flush. I win again."

Baron smiled a little as he heard the groans from other members of the guild who had decided to play Poker. "Anyone wanna play again?" he asked innocently, gathering and shuffling the cards.

The only answer Baron got was the dropping of money on the table before the five others left the Infirmary room.

When the older drake had gotten back to the room that Doc had isolated him in for the past week, some of the other Masters (whose apprentices were also on their assigned partnered missions) showed up and asked if he wanted to play cards with them. So the six Masters played the gambling card game at the round table in the corner of the room.

And now here he was, nearly an hour later, with about three hundred dollars in his possession when he heard the door open. Baron looked up to see Rose.

"Hey Rose," Baron greeted, placing the money on the smaller table next to the bed. "What're you doing here so late?"

Rose just looked at him with a somewhat disturbed look on her face. "I…we need to talk."

Baron looked at her, slightly confused. "Alright," he said, while climbing back into bed. "What about? Worried about the kid?"

"Actually…yeah, I am," Rose admitted, coming to the bed and sitting in a chair next to it. "Something's going to happen, but I don't know what."

"What do you mean 'something's going to happen'?" Baron asked. "Don't you mean that you only think that?"

Rose shook her head. "I-I overheard some talk…Ace was speaking with another Master, though I don't know who," she said. "He was talking about what Falcone had in mind for Duke…during the heist tonight."

The older drake froze. "When did you hear this?"

"…not too long ago. I was on my way here to see you when I was about to pass the room I overheard this from," Rose said, eyes still cast downward. "I thought I should tell you first."

Baron let this information sink in for only a moment. "What was it that Ace has in mind?"

Rose took a breath and let it out. "Falcone's going to - "

_**RVRVRVRVRVRVRV**_

"_Finally_! I was wonderin' when ya'd show up!"

Falcone looked at Duke, who was still sitting on the bench he had found nearly twenty minutes earlier. "Sorry, took me longer than expected to get through the system," the Raptrin answered simply. He pointed in the direction that he had just come from. "The vent was a bit smaller than I thought, and I ended up in another vent."

Duke just stood up from his seat and walked over to his "partner". "Alright, you're he'ah now, so let's get this show on da' road," he said, starting to go through the pockets of his belt.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm lookin' for a glass-cutt'ah," Duke answered, still digging through the various pockets. Finally, he found what he was looking for and pulled it out. "Seems we're gonna get some jewel-encrusted hockey puck from back in tha' day," the teen said, looking around to see if he could see the case in which this thing was supposed to be in.

A few minutes of searching passed when Falcone and Duke finally managed to find the case that the assigned item was in. After making sure that there weren't any tripwires or anything of the sort, Duke began to cut through the glass of the case. The shard he had cut fell out and Duke caught it in his hand. "Here, take this," he said, handing the glass to Falcone.

He didn't notice when he was pulling the exhibit item out of its case that Falcone was putting the glass into a pocket on his own belt…or when the falcon reached slowly for something behind his back…

* * *

ZOMG! What's Falcone gonna do?

Tune in next time! 8D


	10. Chapter 8: What Happened?

I SWEAR TO GOD I'M NOT DEAD

* * *

"-just needs to stay down until his leg is able to hold his own weight enough for him to walk."

"But he will be able to, right?"

Duke heard the voices talking, but he couldn't really rouse himself into full awareness just yet.

"He'll be up to it again in no time Baron. Your kid's tough. Now the only question is-"

"-Whether or not the elders or leader will do anything to reprimand him."

_Would they really do that to me-_

"-Baron…?"

"Kid? You awake in there?"

Duke managed to open his eyes a little. It was oddly bright, wherever he was.

"Well, he's finally awake."

The seventeen-year old just opened his eyes a little more and saw not only Baron, who was sitting in a chair at his left side, but one of the many other Brotherhood of the Blade's Infirmary doctors standing on the right side.

"What's goin' on?" Duke asked. The younger guild member tried to sit up, but Baron just eased him back down as he tried. "Whoa there kid, you got hurt pretty bad," his mentor said. "You've got a few bruised ribs and might not want to sit up for awhile."

So Duke laid back down on the Infirmary bed as the head doctor began.

"Your partner for the mission gave us a full account of what happened," the physician answered. "Seems Falcone was able to rescue you."

"…what?"

Both Baron and Duke stared at the doc as he answered, who didn't notice the puzzled look on Duke's face or the distrust in Baron's eyes.

"Well, when you and Falcone were sent on that mission to the Museum of National DuCaine History to steal the artifact almost four nights ago, Falcone told us that he managed to get the item from the case. However, there were guards on duty that night and one of them got you. Falcone saved you and made it back here. His details were a little sketchy though when he tried to explain about your leg or the chip in your bill."

Baron noticed the surprised look in Duke's eyes after the story was told. "That's enough doc," the older member said. "I think I need to have a chat with my apprentice here."

"…I think that's a good idea," the physician agreed. "I have to go check on other patients anyway, and tell Doc that he's awake. But make sure he gets rest."

With that he left Baron and Duke in the small room that helped make up the Infirmary.

Duke turned his head to look at his mentor. "Baron, Falcone didn't do squat to help," he started, trying to get his side out. "He's-"

"A traitorous, over-stuffed parakeet," Baron finished, running one hand through his short, graying hair.

Duke wasn't expecting this. "Huh?"

"Something happened while you were on that mission kid, and I know you didn't get a gash on your leg that's so deep I can see bone from someone who'd be so low-level," Baron answered. "Only a sharp blade can do that, and I know that _no _guard on Puckworld has something like that, even when they're heavily armed. I dunno why the doc or anyone in this whole damn guild believes Falcone, minus the few exceptions. So what really happened?"

"…to be honest, I don't really rememb'ah it all," Duke said. "I remember that we had just gotten that stupid thing outta its case when he pulled out one of the blades like what the eld'ahs have…"

"_Sorry Duke, can't have you taking all the glory."_

_The teenager turned around from the case to see Falcone with…an elder's blade?_

_"What the-? Where'd ya get that?" Duke asked, completely surprised that Falcone was holding one of the blades that the elders, the leader of the guild, or a select few Masters would have. "Why do you even have it?"_

_The raptrin rolled his eyes. "I just said why you idiot." He held the blade up to the end of Duke's bill. "Now, are you going to actually try and fight, or should I just take that treasure back to the Brotherhood?"_

His mentor's eyes widened. "You're kidding me."

"Baron, he just sta'hted to fight me for no reason. When I asked him why again when we just got the dumb thing out without any problems. Somethin' about how I was stoppin' him from 'bein' the best' or whateva." Duke paused, not sure how to continue.

_This was a pointless fight. Not only because of the reason that the falcon kept giving, but because of the weapons. Falcone had an elder's blade while Duke just had the fencing saber that Sapphire had given him before all the of age recruits were deployed; the outlook was not good._

"I am proud of you for one thing kid," Baron finally said, after a few moments of silence. "You wore gloves like I taught ya and didn't leave fingerprints." Then his face slumped into a further frown than it already was. "The problem with that though is that it can confirm _and _deny the load of feathers story that Falcone's spouting off."

"Really?"

"Puck yes!" Baron exclaimed. "You've seen the other masters, elders, _and _their apprentices. How many of them have you seen wearing gloves when they go out on a heist?"

The teenager thought about it for a moment. "Actually, not many," he finally answered.

"Exactly Duke," Baron said. "Many of the elders and masters in the Brotherhood don't teach their apprentices or the new recruits that wearing gloves is crucial; even if you got the damn artifact, you might still leave fingerprints everywhere else."

"Or feath'ahs," Duke pointed out.

"This is true, but that's why a duck - or in Falcone's case, falcon - shouldn't go on a heist when they're molting," Baron pointed out.

Duke sighed. "So what now?" he asked his appointed master.

"Let me deal with the council and the leader," Baron said, rising from his seat. "I wanted to get the story from you as soon as you woke up, but you've been out for three days, so I don't know if your story will work against the one Falcone's spouting."

_The two were on the roof of the museum now, Duke trying to not get hit by the blade in Falcone's hands as he tried to defend himself with the fencing saber. Surprisingly, the weapon Duke had been given before the mission hadn't broken yet, but then again, Falcone hadn't done anything to break it yet. _

_At least, not until Duke brought the saber up to defend himself as he fell to the ground; Falcone found an opening, or perhaps he was just tired of beating around the bush, slicing the saber in two and knocking the weapon out of the other's hand. _

_Not even ten seconds after the weapon was knocked out of his hand, the teenager felt extreme pain slice into his left leg. He fell backwards, hitting the cemented roof of the building. Looking at his leg, he could see blood, and lots of it._

He was about to leave if Duke hadn't of asked one question.

"How bad is my bill?"

Baron sighed. "It's not that bad, but…" He went over to a counter in the room, picked up a mirror the doctor kept in there, and brought it back to his apprentice. "You might want to see for yourself."

Duke just looked into the mirror and sighed.

"_Something's…missing," Falcone said, inspecting the injured teen in front of him. "But what?"_

_Duke didn't answer. Then again, he couldn't exactly answer if he wanted to, considering he was staring at what he thought was the bloody bone of his left thigh. It was too dark to really tell if it was bone or not, but it certainly looked it._

_Suddenly, Duke felt the end of his bill being jerked up and he was face-to-face with Falcone, who was smiling. "I think I know what to do," he said. "How about a reminder of our first assignment, hm?" And without warning, there was pain close to the front of his bill, causing Duke to cry out._

_The son of a Saurian had cut off a piece of his beak. Using an elder's blade._

"_Don't want you looking too disfigured, now do we?" With that, Falcone withdrew the sharp edge and let go of Duke, letting the gray-feathered teenager fall to the ground, extreme pain coursing in both his leg and bill now. Falcone put a foot in the middle of the other's chest and stepped down, using a vast majority of his weight._

_And considering the fact that Duke was considerably smaller than the other, it hurt a lot. _

"Baron…this really sucks."

A sigh. "I know Duke."

* * *

There wasn't much for the seventeen year old to do, now that he was stuck in the Infirmary for awhile as he was recovering. Despite Rose, Baron, Spade, and a few others coming in and out to visit, Duke was still beyond bored most of the time. But when Baron came by, those were the most informing visits.

His master was working on his case as Duke was in the Infirmary, trying to tell the elders the straight story from the apprentice about that fateful night. The teenager had been told that a few times, Ace and/or Falcone had even been there, but they had been denying everything.

_How can anyone from this guild look at my leg and say that Falcone couldn't have done that?_ Duke wondered often. As Baron had said, there weren't many citizens outside of the Brotherhood of the Blade who collected swords (much less train with them), and those who did were either rich, history fanatics or weapon collectors. And the closest ones in the area Duke knew of were both collectors who dealt with the Brotherhood. So no one outside the group would have an elder's blade, unless they were designated one.

Rose had believed him when he explained his story to her. She had even told him that she had overheard something was going to happen, but didn't know what. It took some convincing with Spade, but he eventually came to believe Duke after a nurse came in one day to change the wound dressings on his leg and the other thief-in-training got to see the full extent of the injury. He even brought up the idea that maybe Falcone was in fact _good _at something, but had been hiding it for an occasion such as this. The two seventeen year olds came up with a few different theories, but that was the only one that seemed plausible and stuck.

But when there wasn't anyone around, Duke kept wondering what the puck he had done in his life to justify a severe - and possibly crippling - injury. That thought led to other thoughts, such as why his life went in the direction it did; great early childhood (or at least what he could remember of it until he was six), a shitty six years after that, then Baron saving him from his drugged out mom to live a better life, even if it did involve a career of thievery. But in the situation Duke had been in when he was twelve, who would have denied an offer like Baron's?

_Only a saint would've denied it,_ the teenager thought. _Then again, even saints who had a normal life are short in supply._

He sighed. The teen drake was severely wishing that the docs would let him out of the Infirmary; it was just too boring, smelled too clean, and the beds weren't comfy. Duke wanted to be in his own room, lying in his own bed, but he had been told that he was going to be stuck in the hospital wing for some time due to surgery and the extent of injury.

* * *

Thus the origin of the chip in Duke's bill.

Kind of short, I know, but it's been a really long time since I updated. There's been many factors as to why I haven't; in fact, it took me from my last update to now just to get this much and since you guys have already been waiting so long... *shrugs*

Anyway, I'm still working on this story. Never fear


	11. Chapter 9: Wait, What? Part 1

The drake in the guild known as Dios, stood in the hallway outside the Infirmary of the Brotherhood. He sighed.

_I know Baron's kid wouldn't lie about something like this…especially not after hearing about these allegations and his injuries,_ the older one thought, running a hand through his shoulder-length white hair. _But how can this all be proved? Baron made a point that Falcone could've stashed the blade that was used before coming back, but where would he have hidden it that no one else would find it? He's not that smart…then again, if what other testimony and allegation being said is true, there could be something incredibly dangerous about that raptrin…_

Then, from down the hall, he heard the Infirmary doors open. Seeing a familiar gray seventeen year old, wobbling out on crutches with a heavily bandaged up left leg, Dios sighed and straightened up.

_I don't _want _to do this to you Duke…but if I show leniency to either you or Falcone, then other members would believe that I favor the apprentice of my former one. _

**…**

Duke was finally glad to be released from the Infirmary; three weeks went by real slow when there wasn't much to do or ways to get around. But Doc had declared that Duke should be able to get around with the use of the crutches he was now using, which the teen considered a huge improvement, considering how the wound had been.

"Duke? Might we have a chat?"

The seventeen year old looked in the direction the voice was coming from to see Master Dios; in the time that he was in the Infirmary, Duke had learned a lot about this particular master. Before the eve of the disastrous heist, the young drake had met - but not known - who this older Master was. He had been confused at why the older students at the time had shown so much respect to him.

Now he knew.

While everyone in the guild knew that there was a council of elders and who they were, only those who had become masters were allowed to know who the leader of the guild was. So in short, no recruit, journeyman or journeymaid had no idea who actually led the place. Or it was more accurate to say that if a Master didn't inform their apprentice, then they would be in the dark about it.

The leader didn't make himself known either; in fact, if Duke remembered his history of the guild right, the last time he had revealed anything to the whole guild was when the fighting started when Baron had left home when Duke was six.

Duke hobbled over to the leader of the guild. "…yes sir?" he asked quietly.

"You know that action must be taken, yes?"

"…yes sir…"

"The council and I have heard your story from Baron and Falcone's side of the story," Dios said. "I would like to hear it in your own words before any formal action is taken."

**…**

Duke laid back on his bed, feeling drained, physically and mentally. Propping his leg up on a few pillows, his mind wandered over the last hour.

After Master Dios told him that an official statement was needed, or rather, wanted instead of hearing it just from Baron, Duke had been taken to what some of the students had dubbed as 'interrogation rooms'. He gave his story, from when they got to the museum, the actual stealing of the item, and to the last things Duke remembered, which included the chip in his bill and the slashed up leg. After giving his story, he was quizzed on his story by members of the council, who he assumed were checking to see if his story and Baron's matched up.

A knock interrupted his thoughts. "S'open," he replied.

The door opened to reveal Spade, looking a little worried. "Hey. I was wondering when you were going to be released."

"Doc let me outta the'ah a few hou'ahs ago-"

"I meant from the interrogation," Spade cut off. "Word got around that the leader of the guild and council were trying to get your side of the story."

The gray mallard rolled his eyes. "Guess I should'a expected this," he muttered. "Stuff always goes around when somethin' big happens."

Spade came into the room and closed the door behind him. "Falcone's telling everyone that he rescued you, but I don't believe that load of crap," he said. "After seeing your leg? How could any sane duck believe him?"

Duke just shook his head. "Guess I get ta' wond'ah about that when I'm gone."

"…what does that mean?"

"The eld'ah and council couldn't think of any punishment for me that 'suits tha' situation'. Execution's too harsh, but exile…well, they don't do that-"

"-because the duck could spill secrets about the Brotherhood," Spade finished, still wondering where this was going.

Duke nodded. "So…what they came up with is like exile, but…not." He thought for a second on how to explain this. "They're sendin' me away to tha' capital for awhile-"

"How in Drake's name are you gonna manage that?" Spade burst out. "The whole city is always a block of ice! You're not gonna be able to get around with your leg like that-"

"-and I think that's exactly why they're sendin' me the'ah."

"…huh?"

The gray drake sighed. "It's like gettin' put in the penalty box," he started. "The council is puttin' me in this…I think it's an apartment, somewhe'ah in the capital. I won't be able to go anywhe'ah 'cuz of my leg, the phone the'ah is gonna be monit'ahed, an' the only contact I'll have with anyone in the Brotherhood is when Doc comes to check on me." Duke laughed a little. "Goin' back to whe'ah I was hatched, an' I can't even see the city for what it is."

"You were born in the capital?" Spade asked.

"Hatched the'ah, but I grew up somewh'ah else," Duke explained. "I dunno when my parents moved from the'ah, but I spent the first twelve years of my life growin' up in a small'ah city."

Spade looked at a bunch of boxes that were in one corner of the room. "…how long are you gonna be gone?"

Duke sighed. "I'm not sure. I don't think even the council has decided _that_ much, but I'm bettin' that I'll be back when Doc says I'm ready for physical therapy…I guess the only savin' grace he'ah is that Rose and Baron get to take me the'ah…at least I'll get to see them before I'm stuck."

"So…the only ones you'll get to see while you're out there are Doc and anyone from the windows?" Spade asked, growing sadder as each second passed.

"…yeah. Not even Baron's allowed t'ah visit me while I'm the'ah. Just Doc…and any random neigh'bahs or anyone delivering pizza."

Spade remained quiet for a few moments, thinking this over. Finally, he spoke up. "I don't care what the other students might come up with, I'll stand by you. I'll make sure the story is kept straight while you're gone…though I don't think many of the students will believe Falcone after awhile…"

Duke just smiled to his friend. "I'll take any support I can get," he said. "…thanks."

* * *

I know, I know, this was very short. But this story requires a lot of inspiration, which I was running short of these last few months


	12. Chapter 10: Wait, What? Part 2

I'm genuinely shocked to say that this story is now TWO YEARS OLD. It's anniversary was last month!

But anyway, sorry for lack of updates and yet another short chapter. I believe that they will start getting longer again in the next one

* * *

"Think you'll be ok?"

Duke sighed. "Yeah…I guess so. But I'm gonna miss you guys like crazy."

Baron smiled sadly. "It's not forever," he reminded the younger drake, putting a box on a table in the apartment that Duke would be staying in for the duration of his punishment. "And Doc will be coming by to check up on you weekly."

"It's not tha' same," Duke said. He was currently in an old, worn-out recliner that was in the apartment since DuCaine only knew when, his bad leg propped up. "Before when I got hurt, I could come see ya, Rose, or anyone else. But now…"

Baron sighed, coming over to Duke's side. "It's not forever," he said again, kneeling next to the armchair. "I know it'll get lonely here, but know that we're on your side. Half of the guild may believe that piece of crap story that Falcone and Ace are spouting, but I know that there's a good number of students and masters who believe yours."

"Then why am I he'ah?" Duke asked.

"…it's just how it has to be."

The gray drake sighed. "…can ya promise me somethin' at least?"

Baron looked confused. "What's that?"

"Promise me that while I'm stuck he'ah, you won't do anythin' stupid like you did last ye'ah. Or get hurt."

Baron smiled a little. "I promise." He got up and hugged his son. "I'll be waiting for you when it's time for you to come back home." Releasing him, he stood back up. "…I guess I should go. The guild expects me back by tomorrow morning, and it's a really long way back."

Baron was almost to the door when he heard something.

"Hey Dad?"

The older duck looked back at his son. "Yeah?"

"Is it true that Mast'ah Dios, the lead'ah of the guild, was your mentor?"

A shocked look appeared on Baron's face. "How did you find that out? I never told you about my Master."

Duke looked a little uncomfortable all of a sudden. "He…might'a mentioned somethin' before we left about it…"

_The young drake sat in the vehicle that would take him and Baron to the capital as his father packed it up with the few boxes of Duke's things that he would need._

_He was miserable and just knew that the duration of this punishment was going to be even worse than when he had his arm dislocated and broken at the same time. No one was going to be allowed to-_

"_Duke?"_

_The teenager's thoughts were interrupted and he looked up, seeing Master Dios. "…yes sir?"_

"…_I wish you luck out there," the older drake said. "When this kind of punishment was given before, the one sentenced could at least get out of the apartment. Seeing that you're going to be literally under house arrest since your leg is injured…well, you're going to need luck."_

_Duke wasn't really sure what to say. It _almost _sounded like the leader of the guild was giving some sort of apology for having this sentence carried out. "Uhm…thanks, I guess," he managed to say, though quietly as he looked away. "I always thought that if I ev'ah went back to tha' capital, I could'a done some sight-seein'."_

_Dios sighed. "It's hard when you're being punished. Trust me, I got into enough trouble back when I was a recruit for this guild. I never liked getting punishments and I never liked giving them either…even if it was for someone who was as overconfident as your father was, as my apprentice." _

_At that remark, Duke's gaze snapped back up to Dios. "You were my dad's mast'ah?"_

"_I was," Dios confirmed. "And because I was his teacher, it was one of the reasons that I chose this punishment, as much as it sucks. I understand Baron's principles and teachings; I know he would never lie or fabricate a story about something such as this. And because you're his apprentice, as well as son, I know that he passed these onto you."_

_Duke was beyond confused. "Then…why am I bein' punished if ya know I'm tellin' tha' truth?" he asked._

_Dios sighed. "It's for many reasons that are complicated and perhaps too long to spell out. They are my own, and perhaps someday I will be able to share with you why I chose to do this. For now though, I have to keep them my own." He placed a hand on the teenage drake's shoulder. "I wish you the best of luck in the capital. Though, you are your father's son. You'll pull through just fine."_

Baron sighed. "Well, there's something else you got to learn then."

Duke grinned. "Were you really as unrul'ay as Mast'ah Dios says?"

The older one chuckled. "He would make claims of that sometimes."

Rose came into the apartment with one last box. "That should do it." Sighing, she looked at Duke and Baron. "C'mon Baron, we should go."

Baron got up once again. "…I'm sorry about this Duke. Try to stay sane while you're stuck here."

With that, the two Masters left, leaving behind a confused young drake, wondering what life would be like for the next however long.


	13. Chapter 11: A New Hope

_Great Mother of Ducks…Baron wasn't kidding when he said that someone could lose their mind here._

Duke sat back in the recliner, bad leg propped up, currently waiting for his dinner to arrive from a nearby takeout place he had ordered from. He was looking at the coin pendant, pondering about his boredom. _I wonder how many were in this apartment before me, or if even any of them were injured like I am…Dad did mention that he got into trouble a few times, so maybe he did get to stay here._

That thought was a little comforting, whether it may or may not have been true.

Duke played with the coin pendant a little, thinking about the phrase that was written on it in an almost dead language; "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." The funny thing about the pendant was that Baron had given it to Duke way back whenever he had first left the gray drake and his mother so long ago. Duke often thought about the night that Baron had left and the coin's connection to the guild; Baron had said that it would keep him safe.

But why? And from what?

* * *

_Baron kneeled next to his young son's bed and tried to wake the youngster. "Hey, you need to wake up," he said softly, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder._

_The young duckling moaned sleepily. "Izzit time for school?" Duke asked, his eyes half open after a moment._

_"Sorry kid, not yet," his dad answered, smiling sadly. He pulled something out of his pocket as the child sat up, rubbing his eyes. The twenty-six year old then placed something over his son's head, letting it fall around his neck. "This is for you."_

_His son looked at the pendant that was now around his neck. The item that hung on the gold chain was (what looked like) an old coin with something engraved on it, but it was too dark to see what it was._

_"Keep this with you all the time," the father instructed, his hands on his son's shoulders. "It'll protect you. Just know that we'll meet again one day."_

* * *

Something else that had always bugged the younger drake was why Baron thought they were definitely going to meet again. After the older one's confession of not being able to find his mother or Duke after the guild's civil war the last time the teen was injured, Duke thought that perhaps they had just met again by chance.

But he wouldn't get to ask again until he got back to the guild.

Sighing, Duke rubbed his eyes. _What's with all these weird thoughts in my head? Is this what this place is supposed to do? Make you think? Then again, everyone else who's ever been here has been able to go outside, walk the streets, probably converse with other members of society; I haven't since I got here because of Falcone._

Duke was snapped from his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door. Putting down the recliner and grabbing his crutches, he went to grab his food, deciding to shut down his brain for awhile.

**…**

"It looks like your leg is healing up nicely. By the time you come back, you'll be ready for physical therapy."

"Thanks Doc…"

The older drake sighed. "I know its lonely here, but try to make it a little longer. The word going around the Master rank is that you'll be getting a second chance after that last fiasco with the heist."

"…second chance?"

Doc nodded, finishing up his inspection of Duke's injury. "Rumor going around is that, either way the story officially goes whether it's yours or Falcone's, the council will let you have another try. They just haven't decided if it will be with another who also needs a second chance at a heist or a solo mission. My guess is a solo mission so that they will be able to effectively tally up your talents." He patted the teenager's leg. "There you go. That should hold you over until your next checkup."

Duke just let this new thought muddle around in his head while Doc packed his supplies. Finally, his brain managed to come up with an answer. "They'd really let me have anoth'ah chance?"

"I don't see why not," Doc said, putting his bag aside and going to the kitchen area. "If you think about the two sides of the story that are being told around the guild and to the elders, either way you have skill." He started pulling out ingredients for something from the fridge. "What the members are beginning to notice, if they're actually thinking about it, is that in Falcone's version, he says that he got the artifact and rescued you-"

Duke scoffed at that.

"-but what he never says is _how _he did any of it. And he won't say anything when asked other than 'what makes you think I can't?' or some sort of tripe."

The teenager grabbed his crutches and managed to get out of the recliner. "So…what you're sayin' is that people are thinkin' about how tha' story and evasion of tha' question don't match up?"

"Something along those lines," the older drake said, fiddling about in the kitchen with a mug and some hot chocolate mix. "I believe that a few of the elders are questioning the idea, but don't want to say much of anything. So the idea going around is that when you heal, they will let you have a second chance."

Duke sat at one of the kitchen chairs and sighed. "I hope that's tha' case Doc. I know I can prove Falcone's story wrong, but I need an opportunity, y'know?"

A few minutes of silence. Then Doc finally answered by placing the mug in front of Duke and giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Falcone may or may not get one someday to redeem the mistake he made, but remember that."

Upon that, the older one picked up his bag and left, leaving Duke behind to contemplate.

* * *

Seriously...I'm not dead.

And in case you're wondering, I will keep updating this. It's just hard to get motivated sometimes.


	14. Chapter 12: Finally!

_Great Drake, it feels good to be out of that stupid apartment._

The weather in the capital was clearing up a bit and the areas where skating wasn't required to get around, such as the park that Duke was currently at, were great places to visit and take his cabin-fevered mind off of the cramped space. Sitting on a park bench, crutches next to him, Duke felt surprisingly liberated. Sure, he was still technically under the punishment, but the punishment had never said 'don't ever leave the apartment for anything'.

And if for some reason someone had a problem with it later…well, he'd deal with it then.

Suddenly, a ball came rolling over and stopped in front of Duke's good leg. Curious, he bent over and picked it up, inspecting it.

"Can I haf' my baw back?"

Duke looked down to see a very young duckling, eyeing the ball and looking much too adorable for his own good. The teenager laughed a little. "Sure kid." He held the ball back out to the much younger duck; as he did so however, a female came towards the two. "What do you say to the nice man for giving your ball back?" she asked her son.

He smiled a little. "Fanks mister!"

Duke couldn't help but laugh a little. "You're welcome kid. Jus' don't lose it again, a'ight?" The younger one nodded.

"How about you go play on the playground right there sweetie?" His mother suggested. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"Yay!" the smaller one yelled, running off towards the small playground nearby. Duke chuckled as the mother yelled one last instruction. "Just be careful when you play Wildwing!"

With that, the mother sat down next to Duke, sighing. "That boy knows how to keep me moving through the day." Turning to the teenager, she smiled, pushing some of her golden hair behind one of her shoulders. "My name's Lily. What's yours?"

Duke paused for a minute, considering giving a fake name. But when he couldn't think of a good one (or even remember what his real name was from before the guild), he settled on his real name. "It's Duke."

She smiled to him and saw something he hadn't seen in a female since before Baron had left him behind in order to save them; the genuine love of a mother. He could barely remember much about his own from before he was six and after that was continuous times of being strung out. "It's nice to meet you. Are you visiting? I think I would remember plumage of that color if you lived here."

"…I lived he'ah once, but that was a long time ago," Duke answered truthfully. What was the point in lying to her? As long as she didn't ask about what he did, he thought he'd be fine; wasn't like he was sticking around for much longer anyway. "I moved away when I was a kid. I'm just visitin' now."

"Are you liking the city?"

"I guess…I've been he'ah by myself though, and stuck in tha' house 'cuz of my leg, so it hasn' been as much fun."

Lily studied his face, curious. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? You don't look older than fifteen or so."

Duke snickered. "Actually, I'm seventeen. My birthday was a coupla' months ago."

"Where are your parents?"

He looked away, a little sad. "My dad's away on business-" That may or may not have been true, but Duke didn't know. "-an' I…I don't know what happened t'ah my mom. She's been gone awhile."

"You poor thing…not having a mother-"

"It's ok m'am," Duke responded. "What I rememb'ah of my Ma weren't exactly great things. She got mad a lot an' yelled at me when I was a kid."

Lily sighed and looked towards her son, who was riding the merry-go-round, laughing. "I don't think I could ever be that mad at a child, especially Wildwing. He's too sweet to be mad at."

Duke smiled a little. "Where'd a name like that come from, if ya don't mind me askin'?"

She laughed. "Well, it started when my husband and I were young. We had a bit of a wild youth, and he always dreamed of becoming a pilot. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for him due to an accident. The doctors thought he would never be able to walk again, much less even be able to move at all, but he proved them wrong; to this day, he has a joke about one of his wings that was mangled almost beyond repair."

_Sounds a little like Baron,_ Duke thought. _Not sure why though._

"Anyway," Lily continued. "When we were thinking of names for our son, my husband made a joke about how he may have wild-like wings in him since he moved a lot while I was pregnant and how he may become a pilot one day. So, the name 'Wildwing' came to be."

Duke nodded. "It sounds like ya husband uses a lot of hum'ah to do his biddin'. But if it works, it works."

"It did work," she agreed. "His name fits him I believe. Sometimes I wonder if he'll become a hockey team leader for the SilverSuns. He tries to be a good goalie, but he's only two."

Duke smiled sadly. "I'm sure he will be one day." Picking up his crutches, he stood up. "It's time I headed back," he said. The teen was about to walk away when Lily stopped him.

"…I may not know you and you me, but I can tell that you're sad about something. I don't know what it is, but I hope it gets better for you…and if you ever come back to the capital, come visit the park. Maybe Wildwing will want to play."

Duke looked to her, a little surprised. He wasn't used to a complete stranger being so nice to him, much less having contact with those outside the Brotherhood of the Blade.

"…I'll rememb'ah that. An' if I do come back, I'll be he'ah."

* * *

A few days later, the door to the apartment Duke was in opened up to reveal Rose and Spade. "We're glad to finally be getting you out of here," she said, giving Duke a hug as he got up from the chair he had been in.

Dawn had finally come for the day to head home and Duke couldn't be happier. But when he noticed someone wasn't there, he frowned. "Whe'ah's Baron?"

"The council sent him on a mission with Sapphire about two days ago," Spade told him. "He should be back tonight, but he doesn't know you're coming back."

"He doesn't?"

Rose started packing up a few things that Duke had not been able to. "The council decided you could come home a few hours after he left. You'll be a nice surprise for him when he comes back."

A little sad that his father couldn't be there, Duke sighed. "…well, at least I'm not stuck he'ah anymore. I could ba'ley get outta this place."

"So you did manage to go somewhere?" Spade asked curiously. "I thought you couldn't skate with your leg."

"Still can't," Duke answered, picking up the one crutch that was required now. "But the weath'ah clea'ed up for a few days, so I went t'ah a park once. It helped with tha' cabin fev'ah."

As Spade and Duke chatted it up, Rose managed to finish what little packing there was, then recruited Spade to help her carry things downstairs.

Duke smiled. _I'm finally going home._

* * *

OMG, two chapters in less than a week?! What the fudge happened?

Anyway, I have mentioned the SilverSuns before, if anyone has read "A Brother's Job". I felt like reviving them, if only in name


	15. Chapter 13: A Little Bit of Reminiscing

**Been awhile, hasn't it?**

* * *

Baron _could not wait _to be done with this assignment with Sapphire. It wasn't agonizing, just tedious. The council had asked the duo to head somewhere up north from headquarters to check out a possible heist; an ancient relic that had been unearthed was being revealed, and the two were asked to look into it. So the two Masters packed their bags and settled into a hotel for two days under their aliases, so it wouldn't look entirely suspicious and would give them a base of operation.

However, the relic had turned into a dud.

"I can't believe that piece of crap," Sapphire complained, as the two were heading back towards the Brotherhood's property. "They claim to have found the Mask of Drake DuCaine, but it's just a mask you can find anywhere! I'm glad that they decided to dump that thing after the reception."

Baron snorted. "You think it would look more like something from the legends, not just a piece of ordinary equipment. But I do agree with you, I'm happy they got rid of it after the patrons at the party saw it. Never thought I'd see a reaction quite like that."

"Well, I guess the bright side was that it was more like a vacation than a mission," Sapphire finally said, checking on the gas in their vehicle. "We got to stay in a nice hotel, good food, good wine at the party, and we didn't have to deal with Ace. All in all, a good trip."

Baron resituated himself in his seat, starting to get restless. "We need gas?"

"Yeah. Probably next stop we come to we should get some."

"Good. I feel like I could use a walk around." Sapphire noticed a fueling station ahead. "Well, we have been going for a few hours. I say it's time to switch drivers after we break."

"Not a bad idea," Baron agreed, as Sapphire pulled into the station moments later. Getting out of the vehicle, he managed to walk around and join his friend as he started the fueling process. "It's nice outside right now…I always liked the time of year when there wasn't ice all over the ground. Duke couldn't even walk that well when it came to that time of the year when he was a hatchling…"

Sapphire noticed how sad the older one looked. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I haven't been away from him, except for missions, since I had to leave him and his mother behind a decade ago."

"…hardly seems like a decade ago that you brought him to the Brotherhood," Sapphire mused. "I remember that day in the monitoring room when you and I were discussing him becoming your apprentice." He chuckled. "If I could, I would probably go back and slap myself for ever doubting that kid's ability to become a thief. Or your choice of bringing your own kid to the guild." Then, a random thought occurred to him.

"Why did you ever let me know that you were Duke's father?"

"Why do you have blue streaks in your hair?"

"Hey, that's a style choice," Sapphire defended. "Plus, I needed some gimmick to go with my name. Kinda like the streaks after all these years." He ran a hand through his blue-streaked blonde hair. "So answer my question."

Baron shifted, thinking as Sapphire checked the fuel gauge. "…you were the first."

"Huh?"

"Back then when I brought Duke to the guild, you were the first to meet him. We were talking about how he would do in the guild, how I could handle the responsibility of being a Master and have an apprentice…just, stuff like that." Baron ran a hand through his hair, which was starting to get shaggy looking. He'd have to ask Duke to cut it again for him. "…you were the first to really meet Duke when he joined. I remember when he asked you-"

" 'What's with the stupid looking hair?' " Sapphire quoted, laughing a bit.

Baron snorted. "Yeah, that twelve year old was being pretty blunt. I just thought it was fair to you when you became a Master three months later to know, y'know?"

Sapphire put the fueling line back in its place and closed the compartment on the vehicle. "I don't fully understand, but that's just me. Maybe sometime I will…how many people know that he's your son now anyway?"

Baron thought a second. "Well, I told you. Rose knew already, since she was working at the same hospital that Duke hatched in. Dios figured it out after a couple of years. Ace figured it out as well and that's what sparked the argument that Duke overheard during the end of his physical therapy for the shoulder/arm injury."

Sapphire considered this. "What about Doc and Roxana?"

"I'm sure Doc has figured it out, but even if he hasn't, he won't say anything," Baron said. "I haven't told Roxana, but who knows what is going on in her head half the time."

"What about any of Duke's friends? Do they know?"

Baron shrugged. "As far as I know, Spade is the only real friend that Duke has. I doubt he has told him since the discovery is pretty recent, but I dunno. If Spade knows, then he's kept quiet about it."

Sapphire shrugged back. "Oh well. At least not everyone knows and the ones who do figured it out on their own because of their ties to you…well, except me anyway. But that's only because you told me in the beginning."

Baron nodded. "Wanna move the vehicle away from the fuel line, head inside, and get something to eat? We still got another three hours before home, and I have a feeling we are gonna miss dinner."

"Sure. Sounds pretty good. You buying this time?"

* * *

Opening the door to his dark room, Baron let out a sigh of relief. _Finally home_, he thought, kicking his shoes off. _No offense to Sapphire, but I'm glad the mission was over. But…no apprentice still._

That thought tugged at Baron's heart. No matter how occupied he was during the day with classes, paperwork, or speaking with the council about the issue (once again) about Falcone and Duke, at the end of the day, he missed his son more than anything. Usually at the end of the day, Duke and Baron would share a meal in the dining hall or Baron's quarters, play cards, and just generally talk about anything they could think of, though usually it was questions from Duke about the past or what Baron did during the six year absence.

Dropping his knapsack next to the table, Baron almost relaxed when he heard a noise coming from the bedroom area of his quarters. Tugging the knife out of one of his boots, Baron quietly and quickly made his way over to the screened off area…

And almost dropped the knife.

Almost.

There, heavily sleeping away in his bed, half-covered by the blankets, was none other than his own feathers and blood son, Duke. He was half curled up on his side, facing away from Baron, his bad left leg still fully extended while the other was bent at the knee.

Baron sheathed his knife and smiled, going to the other side to see his son's face. Though it had been awhile since the teen had been forced into the punishment set by the council, he hadn't changed much; about the only thing that had changed was that Duke's hair had seemed to have gotten a bit longer since he left.

The older drake frowned though when he took a look at Duke's bill. That chip would forever be there, as a reminder of a mission that had been botched by a fellow guild member who wanted nothing more than glory to his name.

Fixing the blankets, Baron covered the younger drake with the blankets and thought it would be alright this once if he slept in the bed.

After all, Duke hadn't done it since he was two.

Then, an idea came to Baron. Trying to remember where it was exactly, Baron went over to an old chest he kept off to the side of the room, opening it. He hadn't looked at the things in this chest in years, but when he found it, he smiled and pulled out a stuffed animal. The older drake was surprised it hadn't fallen apart at this point, since it was so old, but it held together and was still pretty sturdy.

It was a stuffed animal of a Schrodinger's Whale*, something Baron had given Duke when he was just a hatchling. By the time Baron had left though, Duke had quit sleeping with it, so the older one had taken it with him so many years ago.

And he was sort of glad he did too, as Baron brought it over to the sleeping teen and placed it next to him.

**…**

It was early the next morning when Duke awoke. He found himself in Baron's bed, exactly where he had last remembered being, but something weird was in front of him. "…Schrody?" he sleepily asked. "I ha'nt thought of ya in yea'hs."

"He's been with me is probably why."

Duke quickly sat up to see Baron standing there, a smile on his face. "I apologize for taking him, but when I left you and your mother, I took him with me because I knew I was going to miss the both of you…I just didn't know I was going to be gone so long."

The teen almost couldn't believe it. "…Baron?"

One moment, the two were separated. The next, Baron was sitting on the bed and Duke was in Baron's arms, tears running down his face as his master and father held him, reassuring him that all was well.

* * *

***A Schrodinger's Whale is a creature from the "Ah My Goddess!" series. It was met by the main character of the series (Keiichi), who taught it popular songs to take with it on its journey through time/space**

**And yes, if you go back to the second chapter, that is indeed Sapphire. He was just unnamed at that point**


End file.
